Podcast – Esben Poulsson on 50 years in shipping

In this latest episode of the Maritime Podcast Seatrade Chairman, Chris Hayman, chats with Esben about his fascinating career in shipping.

You will hear Esben’s firsthand experiences of the rise of China and its impact on shipping:

“Well, of course, the single biggest driver in all this has, of course, been China. And bear in mind that when I first came to Hong Kong, you could not go to China, unless you had a government invitation, literally, I was lucky enough to go myself in 1978. And at that point, they were still in Mao jackets, and so forth.”

The rise of the corporate industry structure and consolidation:

“It is definitely more corporate. And I think the consolidation has, of course been principally in the container space, where I think four or five years ago, there were about 18 lines, today, there are of major lines about seven. So very, very big consolidation in that sector, and to a lesser extent in the tanker sector.”

The image of shipping as industry to the wider world:

“So, I think in terms of the image, then we are our own worst enemies. We've had a poor image, because we've been incredibly bad at telling our story, and particularly telling the improvements that we've made over these years. I mean, we're terrible at it.”  

Why he would recommend a career in shipping:

Listen to the conversation in the player above or on the app of your choice: