COLI Shipping & Transport

What COLI Shipping & Transport does

COLI Shipping & Transport is the operational brand of COLI Group, a Hamburg-headquartered marine transportation and logistics company founded in 1974 that has operated continuously for more than 50 years. The firm arranges and executes worldwide marine transportation of bulk, breakbulk, heavy lift, and project cargoes, with wholly-owned operating subsidiaries including COLI Bulk Carriers, COLI Logistics, COLI Shipping & Transport do Brasil, and the colibulk.com dry-bulk brand. Service scope spans vessel chartering, carrier and port agency services, freight forwarding, FCL and LCL container solutions, dry bulk, breakbulk, project logistics, and complementary air freight and road transport modes, organized both by service type and by industry vertical (renewable energy, industrial, oil and gas, power generation, port infrastructure, rolling stock, floating stock, and steel products). The company maintains nine offices across Europe, Asia, and the Americas to coordinate multi-modal shipments globally.

The business model is asset-light and transaction-based. COLI earns commissions and fees on chartering, freight forwarding, and port agency engagements rather than carrying balance-sheet exposure to vessels, with a go-to-market oriented around direct enterprise field sales to industrial clients that require bespoke cargo solutions. Pricing is quote-based and customized to cargo type, volume, route complexity, and regulatory constraints, with no publicly disclosed rate cards. The company competes on the strength of multi-decade practitioner expertise, personal client involvement, and the ability to coordinate complex multi-modal routings — for example, a ten-day, 480 km road transport of a Yankee dryer cylinder through Brazil followed by ocean lift, or the cross-continental movement of ten oversized conveyor belts from Poland via Hamburg to Chile.

Customer concentration is distributed across multiple industrial verticals rather than concentrated in a single logo, but the project-cargo nature of much of the work means a small number of large engagements can drive disproportionate revenue. The company has no disclosed AI, digital platform, or proprietary technology stack; its core technology is conventional shipping expertise combined with a global office network, and there is no API, SDK, or MCP-level integration surface. Ownership is private with no disclosed parent, no recorded funding rounds, and no named executive team in the source material, indicating a closely-held, founder or family-driven enterprise at the corporate level.

Name

COLI Shipping & Transport

Legal name

COLI Group

Website

https://coli-shipping.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

COLI Shipping & Transport is a Hamburg-headquartered marine transportation and project-cargo logistics firm, founded in 1974, that arranges vessel chartering, freight forwarding, port agency, and multi-modal transport for industrial clients worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Marine Logistics Services

NAICS

Deep Sea Freight Transportation (483111), Deep Sea, Coastal, and Great Lakes Water Transportation (48311), Marine Cargo Handling (488320), Support Activities for Water Transportation (4883)

SIC

Arrangement Of Transportation Of Freight & Cargo (4731), Deep Sea Foreign Transportation Of Freight (4412), Water Transportation (4400)

akta.pro primary industry

Ocean Freight Brokerage (FCL/LCL) (TLADAMAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Project & OOG/Breakbulk Ocean Forwarding (Out-of-Gauge, RoRo) (TLACABAH), Ocean Export Forwarding (Booking/VGM/SI/BL) (TLACABAF), Oil & Gas / Energy Project Transport (Rigs, Pipe, Modules) (TLADAGAE), Customs Brokerage for Ocean Shipments (Import/Export Clearance) (TLACABAG)

Keywords

• Marine transportation services
• Vessel chartering services
• Project cargo logistics
• Freight forwarding services
• Port agency services

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices9 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Chartering Services: Vessel chartering services for bulk, breakbulk, and heavy lift cargo transportation across global shipping routes.
2. Freight Forwarding: Comprehensive freight forwarding services including FCL (Full Container Load) and LCL (Less than Container Load) solutions for sea freight, along with air freight and road transport options.
3. Dry Bulk Transportation: Specialized dry bulk cargo transportation services for commodities and raw materials.
4. Breakbulk and Project Logistics: Handling of out-of-gauge, oversized cargo and complex project logistics requiring specialized transport solutions.
5. Carrier Services and Port Agency: Port agency and carrier services including vessel handling operations at ports like Antwerp.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

COLI Shipping & Transport provides worldwide marine transportation and logistics solutions, specializing in vessel chartering, carrier services, freight forwarding, dry bulk, breakbulk, heavy lift, and project cargo across sea, air, and road modes. The company serves industrial clients globally through a network of offices in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, handling complex oversized and specialized cargo transportation. It also operates port agency services at major ports such as Antwerp and Paranaguá.

Product overview

COLI Group offers a comprehensive suite of shipping and transport services built around marine transportation. The core portfolio centers on vessel chartering and carrier services, supported by freight forwarding capabilities. Containerized cargo is served through FCL and LCL offerings, while bulk commodities are handled via Dry Bulk and Breakbulk services. Project logistics and air freight solutions complement the sea-based transport. The company also provides industry-specific solutions including renewable energy logistics, oil and gas transport, power generation services, port infrastructure support, rolling stock transport, floating stock transport, and steel transport. COLI has been providing worldwide marine transportation solutions for over 50 years, focusing on bulk, breakbulk, heavy lift, and project cargoes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• COLI Bulk: Dry bulk transportation services, accessible at colibulk.com

Products and services

• Chartering Vessel chartering services for marine transportation of bulk, breakbulk, and project cargoes for industrial and commercial clients.
• Carrier Services Comprehensive carrier services for maritime logistics operations, including vessel handling and coordination for shipping clients.
• Freight Forwarding Freight forwarding services for seamless global logistics across multiple transport modes for commercial cargo owners.
• FCL & LCL Full Container Load (FCL) and Less than Container Load (LCL) shipping solutions for containerized cargo clients.
• Dry Bulk Dry bulk cargo transportation services for commodities and raw materials moving between global ports.
• Breakbulk Breakbulk cargo handling and transportation services for non-containerized goods requiring specialized handling.
• Project Logistics Specialized logistics for complex project cargoes and heavy lift operations requiring custom transport planning and execution.
• Air Freight Solutions Air freight solutions for time-sensitive cargo transportation as part of multimodal logistics offerings.
• Road Transport Solutions Road transport services for cargo delivery and multimodal logistics including specialized oversized cargo movements.

Quantifiable outcome

• Successful completion of 480 km road transport in 10 days for Brazilian project
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Deugro: German-founded global specialist in project cargo, heavy lift, and breakbulk forwarding; directly comparable niche specialization and multi-modal project execution model to COLI.
• Röhlig Logistics: Germany-headquartered freight forwarder with comparable focus on sea freight, project cargo, and breakbulk; similar mid-sized, privately-held European competitor with global office network.
• Hellmann Worldwide Logistics: German-headquartered global freight forwarder offering sea freight, air freight, road transport, and contract logistics; comparable family-owned German forwarder profile serving industrial and project cargo clients.
• Hansa Meyer Global Transport: German-headquartered freight forwarder specializing in project logistics, heavy lift, and industrial transport; similar mid-sized independent profile and comparable industry verticals.
• Trans Global Projects: UK-headquartered project cargo forwarder offering sea, air, and overland transport for oversized industrial cargoes; comparable specialization in energy and infrastructure project logistics.
• BlueWater Shipping: Denmark-based freight forwarder specializing in project cargo, heavy lift, and breakbulk across energy, mining, and infrastructure sectors; directly comparable specialist profile.
• GAC Group: Global shipping, logistics, and port services group with ship agency and freight forwarding offerings; comparable port agency and vessel husbandry services alongside forwarding capabilities.

Broad incumbents

• DHL Global Forwarding: Global freight forwarding arm of Deutsche Post DHL; large incumbent competing across ocean freight, air freight, project logistics, and customs brokerage with extensive technology investments.
• Kuehne+Nagel: One of the world's largest freight forwarders headquartered in Switzerland; broad incumbent competing across COLI's sea, air, and project cargo segments with significantly greater scale and digital tooling.
• DSV (formerly Panalpina): Major global freight forwarder offering air, sea, road, and project logistics; broad incumbent with significant overlap in COLI's breakbulk, project, and industrial verticals.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about COLI Shipping & Transport