J. Lauritzen A/S facts for kids
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| Privately held by the Lauritzen Foundation | |
| Industry | Shipping |
| Founded | 1884 |
| Founders | Ditlev Lauritzen |
| Headquarters | Copenhagen, Denmark |
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Number of locations
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Singapore, The Philippines, Stamford |
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Key people
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Mads Zacho (CEO) |
| Brands | Lauritzen Bulkers & Lauritzen Kosan |
| Services | Transportation of dry bulk and gas |
| Owners | The Lauritzen foundation |
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Number of employees
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1,100 |
J. Lauritzen (often called JL) is a Danish shipping company. It operates ships all over the world. Its main office is in Hellerup, Denmark. JL is a private company. It is fully owned by the Lauritzen Foundation. This foundation also owns a big part of DFDS. DFDS is one of Europe's largest ferry and logistics companies.
Contents
Shipping Goods Around the World
J. Lauritzen has a large group of ships. These include bulk carriers and gas carriers. Bulk carriers carry loose, unpackaged goods like grain or coal. Gas carriers transport special gases. These ships travel all over the world. In 2014, JL had about 150 ships.
JL has offices in many countries. These include Denmark, Singapore, Hong Kong, the USA, the Philippines, and Dubai.
Carrying Dry Goods
JL started carrying dry bulk goods in the late 1970s. Back then, they focused on smaller ships called handysize bulk carriers. These ships could also sail on lakes.
Today, Lauritzen Bulkers A/S manages about 90 bulk carriers. These ships are different sizes: handysize, handymax, and supramax. Handysize ships are the most common for them. In 2014, their ships were about six years old on average.
Transporting Gases
J. Lauritzen also got into the business of carrying gases. They bought Kosan Tankers in 1989. Now, Lauritzen Kosan carries liquid gases. This includes gases like ethylene, propylene, and LPG.
Lauritzen Kosan has about 45 gas carriers. These ships are designed to carry different types of gases. They make up about 4% of the world's smaller gas carrier ships.
Making Things Simpler
In 2014, J. Lauritzen decided to make its business simpler. They planned to combine J. Lauritzen with Lauritzen Kosan, Lauritzen Bulkers, and other ship companies they owned. This helped them reduce paperwork and costs.
The Story of J. Lauritzen
How it Started
J. Lauritzen began in 1884. It was first a timberyard. A 24-year-old man named Lauritz Ditlev Lauritzen started the company. He named it after his father, Jørgen Lauritzen.
In 1888, J. Lauritzen bought its first ship, the Frederikke Sophie. This ship carried timber between Ribe in Denmark and ports in Norway. Later that year, they bought a steamship called Uganda with a partner. Sadly, the Uganda was old and sank just six months later.
With the insurance money from the Uganda, J. Lauritzen ordered a new ship. This ship was called the Nordsøen. It could carry 550 metric tons of goods. It was delivered in 1891. In 1893, they got a third ship, the Nerma, which could carry 900 metric tons. The same year, Lauritzen was honored by the King of Denmark. He was also made a French Consul. People often called him "The Consul."
Growing the Fleet
In 1895, Consul Lauritzen helped start a new steamship company called S.S. Vesterhavet. They bought a ship called Neptun. Lauritzen also sold his two ships, Nordsøen and Nerma, to Vesterhavet.
Vesterhavet grew its fleet quickly. By 1914, it had 26 ships. These ships could carry a total of 33,328 metric tons of goods.
Through the World Wars
During the First World War, the shipping business was very busy. This helped the company grow its fleet even more. Vesterhavet ordered 19 new ships between 1914 and 1916.
After the war in 1918, Vesterhavet sold its ships and stopped business for a short time. But in 1919, they started again. They had no ships but a lot of money. By the end of 1924, they had 28 new ships.
In 1932, J. Lauritzen started carrying fruit. They changed one of their steamships into a reefer vessel. A reefer vessel is a ship designed to carry refrigerated cargo. In 1935, they got their first reefer, the African Reefer. By 1940, J. Lauritzen owned eight reefer ships.
During the Second World War, in April 1940, Germany occupied Denmark. Many of J. Lauritzen's ships were in other countries. They managed to get most of their ships to safe, neutral ports. However, many Danish ships were stuck in American waters.
The US government took over many of J. Lauritzen's ships in 1941. They were put under a Panamanian flag, which is a "flag of convenience." This means a ship is registered in a country different from its owner's country. This allowed them to keep trading.
The war was very hard on the company. Out of 47 ships, only 9 were left when the war ended in 1945. Many sailors also lost their lives. During this time, a new rule was made. J. Lauritzen's ships were given the suffix "Dan" (from Danmark) in their names. This helped tell them apart.
After the Wars
In May 1945, J. Lauritzen celebrated 50 years since Vesterhavet was founded. To make sure the company would continue, the founder's children created the Lauritzen Foundation. This foundation helps shipping, culture, social work, and education.
Between 1945 and 1958, J. Lauritzen received 43 new ships. Four reefer ships became very important for carrying refrigerated goods in the 1960s. In 1968, they got the Italian Reefer, which was much larger than their other ships.
Arctic Adventures
In 1952, J. Lauritzen got its first special polar vessel, the Kista Dan. Later came the Magga Dan (1956) and Thala Dan (1957). These ships were built for expeditions in the Arctic. The Kista Dan's first trip was to Greenland.
The Kista Dan was also used by ANARE (Australian National Antarctic Expedition). It helped build a permanent station for Australia in the Arctic. ANARE used Lauritzen's ships until 1987. That year, the last polar vessel, Nella Dan (1961), sank after hitting land near Macquarie Island. These strong ships were also great for routes to Finland until 1967.
Sharing Ships (The Pool Concept)
Around 1970, J. Lauritzen started using a "pool system." This means they shared control of many ships with other owners. This helped them save money and work more efficiently.
In 1971, they teamed up with P&O to create Lauritzen-Peninsular Reefers (LPR). JL and P&O each owned half of LPR. But ships from other owners also joined the pool. By 1975, LPR managed about 25 reefer ships.
During this time, JL's reefer ships got bigger. In the late 1970s, they got four large sister ships. These included the Asian Reefer and Canadian Reefer. They could carry a lot of goods and were very fast. The partnership with P&O ended in 1983. JL became the only owner, and the company was renamed Lauritzen Reefers.
After 1983, the Lauritzen reefers' pool grew. It included JL's ships and ships from other owners. By the early 1990s, the pool had about 65 special reefer ships.
JL/LR became a leader in shipping and technology. They developed new, advanced reefer vessels. These ships had special cooling systems. The company also found ways to make trips more profitable. They would carry dry goods on the return trips. For example, they carried bananas to the US and Japan. Then they carried cars from Japan back to South America.
Big Purchases
The Lauritzen Reefers' pool ended in 1996. After that, LR became its own company. It operated ships owned by JL or rented by JL.
In 2000, JL bought Cool Carriers. They combined Lauritzen Reefers and Cool Carriers to create LauritzenCool. This made JL a very important company in the reefer industry. They also started LauritzenCool Logistics (LCL) to handle land-based shipping.
Later, in 2003, they partnered with NYK Reefers. NYK bought parts of LCL and LauritzenCool. By 2007, NYK owned the entire company.
Facing Tough Times
The shipping business can be very up and down. The demand for shipping and the prices for renting ships change a lot. The Baltic Dry Index, which tracks shipping rates, fell sharply around 2007.
Because of this, J. Lauritzen faced challenges. The company lost money for a few years. To deal with this, J. Lauritzen made its company structure simpler. They also sold some of their oil product tankers. The Lauritzen Foundation helped by turning some loans into company ownership.
In 2017, JL sold Axis Offshore Pte. Ltd. This company provided special floating hotels for offshore oil and gas workers.
