CPO Containerschiffreederei has a long and proud history stretching from the foundation of Reederei Claus-PeterOffen in 1971 to the current day where it has grown to become one of the world's leading managers of container shipping, bulk carriers and product tankers. Shown below are some of the key milestones in the development of the company.
1971
The Reederei Claus-Peter Offen was founded in Hamburg on 9 June 1971 when
Claus –Peter Offen acquired his first vessel, the 1,965 GT general cargo vessel "Annie Hugo Stinnes", built in 1959, and subsequently renamed "Holstein".
1971 - 1978
In the years that followed, he purchased further second-hand general cargo ship tonnage.
1978
By 1978 the company had acquired a fleet of 12 ships with total of 14,000 dwt.
END 1978Claus-Peter Offen was quick to appreciate the opportunities offered by containers as a means of transport, and from then on he ordered only newbuilds specially designed to meet the requirements of a swifty expanding container market.
This started as a series of six multi-purpose containerships, each 12,000 dwt and 576 TEU, built from 1978 onwards at the Seebeckwerft AG shipyard in Bremerhaven. Other larger container vessels were later ordered from Flender Werft AG, Lübeck,
1991 - 1999
In the 1990s Claus-Peter Offen took delivery of 25 container vessels between 1,500 - 3,500 TEU, built by German shipyards Thyssen-Nordseewerke (Emden) and Flender (Lübeck).
2000 - 2002At the beginning of the new millennium Reederei Claus-Peter Offen took delivery of its first South-Korean built container vessels, in total 19 ships with up to 5,800 TEU, starting with the 2,500 TEU MV Santa Alexandra built by Samsung Heavy Industries.
March, 2003
To keep up with the dynamic growth in the world container market, the company gradually started to order a further 51 containerships at the beginning of 2003. Orders were placed at South Korean shipyards Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Hanjin Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, Hyundai-Samho Heavy Industries and Samsung Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.
2003 - 2004The fleet ordered in 2003 included a number of vessels that at 120,000 dwt and 14,000 TEU, and with an overall length of 350 metres are amongst the largest containerships in the world.
November, 2004By the end of 2004 the CP Offen fleet numbered 44 ships with a capacity of 120,000 TEU and 1.6 million tonnes, and was on the way to becoming one of the world’s largest providers of container ship tonnage.
June 2006
By June 2006, the Offen fleet had increased to 62 containerships with a capacity of 233,000 TEU; the total newbuilding programme comprises 127,000 TEU.
2007
At the beginning of 2007 the company started operating in the chemicals and product tanker market. Trading under the name "Claus-Peter Offen Tankschiffreederei" (Offen Tankers) eight 36,000 dwt and eight 52,000 dwt special-purpose tankers were ordered from the Hyundai Mipo yard in South Korea. The vessels were deliverd between 2008 and 2011.
2008 Having ordered four bulk carriers in 2008 the company today also operates in the bulk market. Two ships each were ordered for Claus-Peter Offen Bulkschiffreederei (Offen Bulkers) at the shipyards Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME, South Korea) and Daewoo Mangalia Heavy Industries (DMHI, Romania) with a tonnage capacity of 180,000 dwt. The four bulkers were delivered in 2010 and 2011.
Summer 2009Cadetship Program – Manila / Philippines.
Our first Philippine cadets successfully completed their training and study programs having first joined us in 2007 after graduating from their in two year courses at the University of Cebu, and the John B. Lacson University in Bacolod.
Spring 2010RCPO's 100th containership entered into service, with the christening of the 14.000 TEU CPO SAVONA
Summer 2011RCPO set up a number of Simulator Trainers, in partnership with The Maritime Education and Training Centre (METC) in Warnemünde, in order to prepare masters and chief officers for operations on the new 14.000 TEU containerships.
Summer 2013RCPO successfully integrated the ISO 50001 standard for its QSEM.
Winter 2014On December 12th 2014, Reederei Claus-Peter Offen received the "DNV GL Excellence - 5 stars" certification.
2015In 2015 the company restructures and Reederei Claus-Peter Offen becomes CPO Containerschiffreederei