Orion Bulkers GmbH & Company KG

The shipping industry has never been idle. Yet the new millennium has brought a surge of new economic, technological and regulatory developments to maritime logistics.

We at ORION Reederei are proud to be among the world’s top managers of bulk carriers. Our forward-looking management methods mean we are also your solid, steady partner for the future – and the critical changes it will bring.

Our core activities have always been

Commercial Ship Management
Technical Ship Management
Crew Management
Auxiliary Services, including Sale and Purchase Support, Newbuilding Supervision and Insurance

available across all segments of bulk carriers. This specialization has given us unbeatable proficiency in providing the best-maintained and top-performing ships in the business. We have a strict zero-deficiency and zero-off-hire policy, and our vigilant management is dedicated to the dual priorities of ship maintenance and cost control.

orion bulkers

ORION Reederei is made up of a highly trained team of shipping industry specialists, with around 45 on-shore staff at our Hamburg headquarters and 1,400 seagoing personnel. It is directed by Johann Stephan Reith and Johann-Philipp Reith, respectively the fourth and fifth generations to head the family-owned business. As a private, independent company, we can always remain fully dedicated to the interests of our customers.

A constant commitment to excellence, coupled with almost 90 years of experience in a dynamic industry, is our promise that your ships are in safe hands with us!

ORION is a member of Intercargo, BIMCO, RightShip, Trampko, IMEC, the Liberian Shipowners Council and the Maltese Shipowners Council. Through these affiliations, we have access to the best advice, knowledge transfer and advocacy in the industry. Our strong business association networks provide valuable benefits we pass on to our clients.

Today we manage a fleet of nearly 50 bulk carriers. To best serve a variety of shipping needs, the fleet comprises a full range of ship size classifications: Handysizes, Supra- and Ultramaxes, Panamaxes, Kamsarmaxes and Capesizes.

HISTORY

ORION was originally established on April 7th, 1931 as a private limited partnership in the Hanseatic city of Rostock, Germany. In 1936 the company relocated to Hamburg in order to be closer to its major clients and to operate in Germany’s shipping centre.

In 1949, as both the international shipping market and Germany’s economic miracle were beginning to get underway, ORION acquired a UK-built 9,000 dwt vessel named the MV Bellatrix. For about a year, the ship held the status of Germany’s largest merchant vessel.
In the 1950s, ORION had one of the first diesel-propelled merchant vessels on the water.
From the 1950s to 1960s, the company acquired a number of 5,000 to 7,000 dwt newbuildings from German shipyards.
During the 1970s and 1980s, ORION concentrated on operating larger vessels purchased on the secondhand market.
From the early 1990s, ORION then became heavily involved in a substantial newbuilding program of various bulk carrier series being built in Japan.

Since the turn of millennium, ORION has contracted over 50 bulker newbuildings, mainly from major Japanese shipbuilders, though in recent years new vessels have also been ordered from Chinese shipyards. Since the company’s founding, more than 200 seagoing vessels – mainly general cargo ships, container vessels and bulk carriers – have sailed under the ORION flag.

Our 90 years of continuity as a company have given us valuable organizational memory. Drawing from knowledge and data accumulated from past experience – and across decades of shifting business strategies and economic situations – helps guide our decision-making today.