HAMBURG (dpa-AFX) - A scathing verdict on the SPD-led Senate's approach to the controversial acquisition of the world's largest shipping company MSC by the Hamburg port logistics company HHLA: at a public hearing of the Budget Committee on Thursday, at which every member of the public was able to speak, all speakers sharply criticized the planned deal. They directly attacked Mayor Peter Tschentscher, Senator for Economic Affairs Melanie Leonhard and Senator for Finance Andreas Dressel (all SPD) verbally and accused them of incompetence.

The MPs themselves also got their comeuppance. When he saw how bored some of them were playing with their cell phones or looking at their laptops during the hearing, one speaker said, "I feel sick to my stomach". None of the more than 35 speakers spoke in favor of the deal. Among them were many port workers, works council members and trade unionists, but also representatives of initiatives, district organizations and environmental associations.

One dock worker said: "I'm standing in front of them with maximum frustration." Repeated arguments were obviously not being listened to. Instead, he had the impression that this was more about the fate of politicians who wanted to maintain their power, but not that of HHLA employees and the citizens of the city. "Don't lead us into disaster. Don't make the worst mistake of your career," he warned.

The red-green Senate wants to bring the Geneva-based Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) on board at Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) in order to stabilize container handling. The city and the company, which is owned by the Italian shipping family Aponte, are to run HHLA as a joint venture in future, with the city holding a majority stake of 50.1 percent. To date, the city has owned around 70 percent of HHLA, which is listed on the stock exchange.

In return, the world's largest shipping company MSC wants to build its German headquarters in Hamburg, increase the volume of cargo in the port from 2025 and, according to the press release, increase it to one million standard containers (TEU) per year by 2031. MSC and the city also want to increase HHLA's equity by 450 million euros. The port has recently suffered setbacks. Last year, the handling of seaborne cargo fell by 4.7 percent compared to 2022 to 114.3 million tons - the lowest figure since 2009.

The Chairman of the HHLA Group Works Council, Christian Baranowski, called the business strategically questionable and complained that there was no binding job security and no long-term location guarantees. "We, the employees of HHLA, reject this deal," emphasized Baranowski. A long-standing HHLA employee reminded the SPD of its stance over the past decades, according to which the port was more or less considered untouchable. Instead of getting involved with MSC, it would make sense to aim for port cooperation, he demanded.

Finance Senator Dressel rejected the accusations. The Senate had always been open to dialog. However, there was no alternative for the deal. Several options had been examined and supported. Ultimately, however, only MSC had been prepared to sign up to important issues such as co-determination rights and compulsory redundancies. Economic Senator Leonhard expressed a similar view, pointing out once again that MSC would not receive exclusive handling rights at the terminals, but that the loading and unloading of ships from all shipping companies would take place without discrimination./klm/DP/ngu