Autumn 2005.qxd

18
WELCOME TO NEW STAFF
REEDEREI “NORD” KLAUS E. OLDENDORFF LIMITED
DR. MICHAEL SCHWARZ
Managing Director
Dear "NORD" Team, at sea and ashore,
Writing about one’s self is never an easy
nor desirable task. But when the editors of
NORD News, which I consider is a formidable
and outstanding medium for the company, all its
members as well as for associates and friends of
Reederei "NORD" Klaus E. Oldendorff, ask you
gently first, then pressure you to contribute a few
lines or so, you try to make the best
of it and put a readable story together.
Now, here it is:
As you already know from internal
information, I am 63 years old and was born,
raised and educated in Vienna, Austria, where I
completed my legal studies and earned a law
doctorate.
Shipping always being an ambition of
mine - mind you, my father was a Master before
World War II - my first job in London was with a
P&I Club (Mutual Steamship Billbrough Brothers Ltd.
as they called themselves then).
Moving on to Hamburg-Sud in
Hamburg as Assistant to the Chairman of the
Executive Board first, with containerization in its
infancy then, I ended up in New York
and became Chief Operating Officer
of Columbus Line, Hamburg-Sud's
liner company trading between the US / Canada
and Australia / New Zealand.
NORD NEWS Autumn 2005
In 1976, after a stint of several months at
the Harvard Business School in Boston,
obtaining an MBA, I formed my own consulting
firm in New York and assisted international
enterprises in their aim to establish operations in
America. With more than 15 years spent mainly
in North America, I decided to become a U.S.
citizen.
All said and done, another consulting
project brought me back to Hamburg in 1985
with the business focus on corporate
reorganization and turn-arounds in the field of
logistics, from shipping to freight forwarding,
trucking, warehousing and travel.
A particularly rewarding assignment
during this time was my association for a number
of years with MEYER WERFT in Papenburg, a
leading builder of cruise ships in Germany,
during which time I served as President of Meyer
Werft Philadelphia, Inc.
As time went on and up to late 2005, I
was also involved in investments of patent
marketing and information technology.
You can well imagine, that coming back
in my present appointment to such a
reputable and successful shipping company as
Reederei "NORD" Klaus E. Oldendorff Ltd.,
represents a real challenge and privilege for me.
When Mrs. Oldendorff as Chairman of
our Supervisory Board introduced me to the staff
members in Limassol not too long ago - in the
meantime I also had the pleasure of meeting
some of our Masters in the fleet - I was
impressed, above all by the professionality and
loyalty expressed in a casual and friendly way. Let
me say here, that this was a rare, positive and very
encouraging experience indeed.
I trust that this short summary is
enough to know a little about your new
Managing Director?
I look forward to working with you all
and hope that we can jointly push forward from
what has been achieved so far.
Sincerely,
Dr. Michael Schwarz