The general cargo vessel Hans Bornhofen (1971-1995). Her original shipyard model, showing her condition in 1971, is a masterpiece built by the Christel Stührmann workshop on a scale of 1:100. It is part of our exhibition on the history of modern maritime logistics on deck 6 of the museum.
The MS „Hans Bornhofen“ was a general cargo ship that experienced the financial crisis of the 1970s and the changes in shipping in the second half of the 20th century. She was built in 1971 at the Schlichting shipyard in Lübeck-Travemünde for Robert Bornhofen’s Hamburg shipping company. The company had been founded in 1920. For its 50th anniversary in 1970, the company planned an expansion with 6 new general cargo vessels. The „Hans Bornhofen“ was one of the first to be completed. But difficult times were ahead for the shipping industry. In 1973, the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) imposed an oil embargo on the countries that had supported Israel in any way during the Yom Kippur War. This embargo destabilized the markets: the price of oil rose by 300% within a year. This triggered a chain reaction that ended in a global economic crisis. As a result of the oil crisis, the Robert Bornhofen company had to sell the ship to the Bate Shipping company from Singapore. She was first renamed MS „Adviser“ in 1973 and „Bate Bridge“ in 1975. In 1979, the Robert Bornhofen shipping company succeeded in bringing the ship back under the name „Isla Fernandina“. This time Bornhofen profited from the first signs of the 1979 oil crisis, which was linked to the Iranian revolution. But this crisis, which was even more severe than that of 1973, was prolonged by the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988). The Bornhofen company could not withstand the pressure and gave up its operations in 1985. The ship was then confiscated and sold to the highest bidder, Fernandina Shipping from Valetta. Over the next 10 years, the ship changed hands 5 times. Her names were „Safeer“ (1986), „Aldebaran II“ (1990), „Alde“ (1991) and „Sun Speed“ (1992). Finally, in 1995, she was scrapped in Chattogram, southern Bangladesh.