Hartmut Kleinfeldt has spent half his life in the ports of the world. Now, after more than three decades, the former captain and stowage planner has turned his back on his job. Instead, he works as a safety engineer on national construction sites for SCHOLPP.

“If you don’t know the port you want to sail to, no wind is the right one for you,” the Roman philosopher, naturalist and politician Seneca once said. This quote also applies to Hartmut Kleinfeldt, who for almost 30 years – first as a cargo officer and captain, then as a stowage planner and person responsible for all cargo work in many ports around the world together with a capable team – was responsible for smooth shipping traffic on the world’s oceans and fast and safe operations in the ports. If you ask him today where he liked to travel the most, he doesn’t have to think twice: “Everywhere and nowhere – and maybe sometimes a little further,” he says with a smile on his face.

For Hartmut Kleinfeldt, it all began at the Warnemünde/Wustrow Maritime Engineering College, where he studied nautical science before reunification. He then trained as a captain and spent several years traveling to ports on almost every continent. “I was traveling all over the world at the time, often for very long periods of time,” says Hartmut Kleinfeldt, looking back on this time. In 2001, he made a significant career change. From then on, he was no longer on board as a captain, but organized the worldwide transport of heavy goods and project cargo from Hamburg as a ship and stowage planner.

The cargo included gas turbines, transformers, locomotives, and mobile cranes. He still remembers the wing prototype of a wind turbine to this day: Since the wing was an incredible 90 meters long, it could only be placed on the deck. As a stowage planner, Hartmut Kleinfeldt had to ensure that this cargo was only moved twice – the first time when it was boarded and the second time when it reached the destination port. “Re-stowing was out of the question due to the risk of possible damage,” he explains.

Ports as a stop

The ships’ journeys took them to 20 main ports on all continents according to a set schedule. If necessary – for lucrative cargo or at the customer’s request – additional ports were called at. “That was our unique selling point. The ports were basically stops,” so customers who wanted to ship heavy goods or project cargo overseas could plan much more reliably. They knew exactly which port they would be heading to at what time.

“In bottlenecks like the Suez Canal, it was particularly important that the ships’ arrival times planned in advance were adhered to and that we did not have to wait outside the canal due to possible delays caused by bad weather,” explains Hartmut Kleinfeldt, one of the many challenges that a ship and stowage planner must deal with. During a stay in South America, Hartmut Kleinfeldt experienced his craziest job when a 300-ton Liebherr mobile crane was moved within the port: “In the morning, it was still in use at one container terminal, and by the evening it was already at the other – that was absolutely insane!”

Challenging tasks

The ships used were 192 meters long and capable of transporting up to 30,000 tons. Each had ten loading hatches and four cranes, two of which could each move a load of up to 320 tons, or up to 640 tons in combination. No matter what was ultimately lifted onto the ship, it was always a challenge. Things got exciting, for example, when a huge yacht with a length of over 50 meters and a weight of 380 tons had to be hoisted directly from the water onto the ship in Greece. “The job lasted from sunrise to sunset. During such a loading operation, divers are used to attach special straps under the hull of the yacht to lift the yacht safely out of the water and onto the deck,” recalls the former captain.

To ideally distribute heavy goods and project cargo on a ship, the stowage planner needs a lead time of up to four weeks as well as relevant information on parameters such as loading and unloading ports, weight, dimensions, center of gravity and attachment points. Based on this, a 3D simulation is designed to then discuss with the client the procedure for transport and handling during loading and unloading, as well as relevant protective measures. “The simulation was our guiding principle with which we solved the demanding tasks,” says Hartmut Kleinfeldt.

In addition to preparation and implementation, a ship and stowage planner is responsible for coordinating all loading work on board and on-site monitoring, in other words: before a ship enters a port, people like Hartmut Kleinfeldt have already been there, have gained a precise picture of the conditions and spoken to those responsible for the customers, the port terminals and the liner agency in that port. Safety is the top priority. It is a decisive factor when transporting oversized loads from one place to another.

Suddenly SCHOLPP appears

After almost 30 years, Hartmut Kleinfeldt left his job on board these ships in the ports of the world and took up the position of safety engineer at SCHOLPP. However, this was not new territory for him. In the 1990s, he completed training as an occupational safety specialist – a qualification that was a long time ago, but which he benefits from at SCHOLPP. In addition, he benefits from the experience he gained as a stowage planner when preparing construction site audits. The focus of his new job is explicitly on controlling the handling of heavy loads using cranes and lifting frames.

“I have a good eye for transport and load-bearing capacity, which is why I like to help out on my construction site visits and provide technical input,” says Hartmut Kleinfeldt, who exchanges ideas with the responsible project managers in advance for challenging large-scale projects. Afterwards, he goes into private with the customer and gets feedback. This in turn is important for certification according to DIN 9001, which recognizes companies for optimal quality management. In addition, the new safety engineer trains SCHOLPP employees in occupational health and safety.

When the circle closes

As a ship and stowage planner, Hartmut Kleinfeldt transported heavy goods and project cargo from one port to the next. At SCHOLPP, he now monitors the arrival at the destination and the installation of heavy machinery and equipment such as printing machines, presses and gas turbines in a hall. “I’ve seen that so many times in my life,” says Hartmut Kleinfeldt. The only difference to his previous job as a ship and stowage planner is that he is no longer on the road for weeks “everywhere and nowhere” but can spend the evening at home much more often.