Information about the job as a canal charterer with the HGK Group.

Charterers for canal-based shipping are assigned to Business Unit HGK Dry Shipping and the ‘Canal’ segment. This segment of dry goods shipping primarily serves customers in the western and northern German canal system, with operations in the area between the ARA ports and Berlin. The product portfolio includes practically every kind of bulk and general cargo, from solid fuels, construction materials, grain, feed and fertilisers through to project cargoes for the windpower industry.

Our team, characterised by a good mix of experience and innovative ideas, is made up of both operative and administrative employees. The term ‘chartering’ describes the planning and organisation of transport operations on the waterway. Additionally, transport is also organised on the Rhine and its tributaries, depending on the customers being served and the associated flows of goods.

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Tasks of canal charterers

Planning the transportation of bulk goods by barge on European waterways
Planning the optimum use of the fleet in terms of the contractual obligations and the best possible service
Coordination by telephone with customers, loading and unloading sites
Daily exchange with partners and other shipping companies
Supporting customers in the event of questions/problems arising
Creating freight calculations and offers matched to them
Working together with our own companies in Germany and the Netherlands
Preliminary calculations and invoicing of the transports performed

Now you are responsible!

Daily personal contact with customers, partners and skippers
A high level of flexibility
Self-reliant style of working
Good, close cooperation within the team
Frequent new challenges

A day in the life of a canal charterer / charterer

First, the information required for the day must be obtained. If the vessels are on time, can they keep to the agreed deadlines, e.g. for loading or unloading? Some customers also ask for a position list or update every morning. The team joins together digitally from the Duisburg, Neuss, Hannover and Berlin sites to discuss the topics of the day. As a rule there always unanswered queries from customers or vessels that are not yet scheduled. If no company-owned vessel is available, exchange begins with partners and free owner-operators. Necessary administrative activities such as digitally recording the transports, writing out trade confirmations, drawing up cargo documents and other documentation, together with preliminary costing and final invoicing, all form part of the everyday tasks.