Reederei Schwaben

What Reederei Schwaben does

Reederei Schwaben GmbH is a Heilbronn-based inland waterway logistics company, founded in 1918 as the first shipping company on the Neckar river and today majority-owned (51%) by Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG. It operates a fleet of six Großmotorschiffe — GMS Stadt Heilbronn (2006 newbuild), GMS Baden-Württemberg (2008 newbuild), GMS Amazone, GMS Falkenstein, GMS Lichtenstein, and GMS Wunnenstein — with combined capacity of approximately 13,000 tons, serving the Neckar, Rhine, Moselle, Main-Danube, Ruhr, and Western European seaport routes. The company is the largest freight forwarder on the Neckar, accounting for approximately 40% of available transport volume on the river, with the remaining 60% handled via chartered third-party vessels.

The company's service offering rests on three pillars: inland waterway shipping of dry bulk cargo (salt, coal, building materials, fertilizers, grain, steel products); a trimodal cargo handling and warehousing facility at its Heilbronn headquarters featuring 220m of quay length for two ship berths, rail siding, overhead cranes up to 15 tons, 6,500 sqm of partially heated covered storage and 1,500 sqm of open storage; and freight forwarding including customs clearance, seaport forwarding, and logistics concept development. Vessels are equipped with GPS-supported radar, electronic river navigation systems, AIS, and modern bow thrusters; the company maintains EDI customer connections for real-time inventory management. Quality and operational certifications include DIN EN ISO 9001:2015, DIN EN ISO 50001:2018, and GMP (for feedstuffs and grain transport).

Reederei Schwaben generates revenue primarily through transaction-based freight charges per tonne/voyage on bulk cargo, handling fees for trimodal transfer and storage, and professional services fees for forwarding and logistics concept development. Customers are concentrated in industrial verticals — salt/mining (anchor: Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke AG), chemicals (Rhine/Main), energy (Heilbronn coal-fired power plant, in decline due to the Energiewende), steel producers and trading houses, road maintenance / winter services for de-icing salt, and trading/commerce clients. The company divested its land transport businesses between 2002 and 2007 to refocus on inland shipping, sold its Stuttgart operations to Paul v. Maur GmbH in March 2018, and consolidated its registered headquarters at Heilbronn. A 5% equity stake held by Gebr. Krieger KG (acquired 2015) formalizes a 1970-vintage reciprocal transport partnership (salt downstream, gravel upstream). Current managing director is Nico Philipp Drautz.

Name

Reederei Schwaben

Legal name

Reederei Schwaben GmbH

Website

https://reedereischwaben.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1918

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Reederei Schwaben GmbH is a Heilbronn-based inland waterway logistics company operating six cargo vessels and a trimodal handling facility, serving industrial clients in salt, chemical, steel, and energy sectors along the Neckar and Rhine-Main-Danube corridor.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Inland Waterway Logistics Services

NAICS

Inland Water Freight Transportation (483211), Marine Cargo Handling (48832), Support Activities for Water Transportation (4883)

SIC

Water Transportation (4400)

akta.pro primary industry

Bulk Dry Cargo Carriers (Capesize/Panamax/Supramax/Handysize) (TLADABAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Bulk Cargo Handling Services (Conveying, Grab/Loader Ops, Bagging) (TLAHALAI), Rail Terminal Cargo Handling Equipment Operations & Maintenance (Cranes, Reach Stackers, RTGs) (TLAJAFAG)

Keywords

• Inland waterway shipping
• Bulk cargo transport
• Trimodal cargo handling
• Warehousing logistics
• Freight forwarding services

Headquarters

HQ city

Stuttgart

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Binnenschifffahrt (Inland Waterway Transport): Transport of dry bulk goods (salt, coal, building materials, fertilizers, earth, heavy cargo) via the company's own fleet of six Großmotorschiffe on the Neckar, Rhine, Moselle, Main-Donau, Ruhr, and Western European seaports. Revenue is generated through freight charges per tonne or per voyage.
2. Umschlag (Cargo Handling): Trimodal cargo handling services at the Heilbronn facility including ship/rail/LKW transfer, storage on open/hall warehouses, national and international forwarding, EDI-based inventory management, material processing (metal sawing), and QM-certified workflows. Revenue from handling fees per tonne or per volume unit.
3. Warehousing / Lagerwirtschaft: Storage services on covered (6,500 sqm partially heated) and open (1,500 sqm) areas with quay crane capacity up to 15t. Additional services include commissioning, distribution, and value-added services such as resale of customer inventory including invoicing to end customers.
4. Speditionelle Dienstleistungen (Freight Forwarding): Abfertigungsspedition (clearance forwarding), seaport forwarding, development and implementation of logistics concepts, value-added services, and after-sales services.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Reederei Schwaben operates inland waterway transport of dry bulk goods (salt, coal, building materials, fertilizers, grain, steel products) using its own fleet of six Großmotorschiffe on the Neckar, Rhine, Moselle, Main-Donube, and Western European waterways. It runs a trimodal cargo handling facility in Heilbronn (water/rail/truck) with 220m quay, 6,500 sqm of warehouse space, rail siding, and cranes up to 15t, complemented by EDI-based inventory management and freight forwarding/customs clearance services.

Product overview

Reederei Schwaben GmbH operates as a logistics and transportation company with three interconnected service pillars: (1) A fleet of six inland waterway vessels (GMS Amazone, GMS Baden-Württemberg, GMS Falkenstein, GMS Lichtenstein, GMS Stadt Heilbronn, and GMS Wunnenstein) for dry bulk cargo transport via rivers including Neckar, Rhine, Moselle, Main, and Danube; (2) Trimodal warehouse and handling facilities in Heilbronn with crane capacity, quay access, and rail connection; and (3) Freight forwarding and logistics services. The company serves the chemical industry, energy suppliers, steel producers, and trading houses, with primary cargo being industrial salt and coal.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Binnenschifffahrt (Inland Waterway Shipping) Transport of dry bulk goods (industrial salt, de-icing salt, coal, building materials, fertilizers, grain, steel products) via the company's own fleet of six motor cargo ships, serving the Neckar, Rhine, Moselle, Main-Danube corridor, Ruhr region, and Western European seaports for large industrial customers.
• Warehousing / Lagerwirtschaft (Trimodal Cargo Handling) Trimodal cargo handling and warehousing at the Heilbronn facility including water/rail/truck transfer, covered and open storage totaling approximately 8,000 sqm, crane capacity up to 15 tons, 220m quay for two ship berths, rail siding, EDI-based inventory management, commissioning, distribution, and value-added services for industrial customers (steel producers, trading houses, salt works).
• Speditionelle Dienstleistungen (Freight Forwarding) Freight forwarding services including customs clearance forwarding (Abfertigungsspedition), seaport forwarding, development and implementation of logistics concepts, value-added services, and after-sales services for industrial customers.

Quantifiable outcome

• 40% of available transport volume on the Neckar is carried by Reederei Schwaben's own fleet or chartered vessels under its coordination
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Paul v. Maur GmbHminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Paul v. Maur GmbH (Stuttgart) was acquired by Gerd-Jürgen Britsch via management buy-out in 2006. Reederei Schwaben sold its Stuttgart operations to Paul v. Maur in March 2018, concurrently relocating its headquarters from Stuttgart to Heilbronn. The companies maintained an affiliation within the same corporate group for decades, with Paul v. Maur specializing in art transport and relocation services.
• Gebr. Krieger KGcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Gebrüder Krieger KG (Neckarsteinach) acquired 5% of Reederei Schwaben shares in 2015, formalizing a long-standing cooperation dating back to 1970. The partnership enables reciprocal transport: salt cargo downstream (to Rhine/Main) and gravel upstream. Both companies operate complementary inland waterway fleets, and the closer cooperation is expected to benefit joint operations on the Neckar.
• S.a.d.N. AG (Société Anonyme de Navigation)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1972In 1972, Reederei Schwaben acquired all shares of S.a.d.N. AG. The six motorschlepper (motor tugboats) of S.a.d.N. were integrated into Reederei Schwaben's fleet, significantly expanding the company's vessel pool.
• Gebr. Krieger KG (Kooperation)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1970Long-term cooperation since 1970 between Reederei Schwaben and Gebr. Krieger KG for joint transport operations on the Neckar. The two fleets coordinate salt transport downstream and gravel/kies transport upstream, improving vessel utilization in both directions.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Rhenus Logistics GmbH & Co. KG: Rhenus runs one of Europe's largest inland waterway fleets plus inland terminals and forwarding services across the Rhine/Main/Danube corridor, serving chemical, steel and bulk customers — overlapping significantly with Reederei Schwaben's industrial dry-bulk and forwarding business.
• Contargo GmbH & Co. KG: Contargo operates a fleet of inland container vessels and trimodal terminals along the Rhine, Neckar and Main, providing door-to-door logistics with water-rail-road interfaces — directly comparable to Reederei Schwaben's trimodal Heilbronn facility and inland fleet on the same waterways.
• DTG eG (Deutsche Transport-Genossenschaft): DTG is a cooperative inland shipping and logistics operator providing vessel capacity, handling and forwarding across German waterways, comparable as a direct inland dry-bulk peer.
• HGK AG (Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln): HGK operates Cologne's inland port, a sizable inland vessel fleet and trimodal cargo handling on the Rhine — directly comparable business model and customer mix (bulk industrial, chemicals, steel) to Reederei Schwaben.
• MSG eG (Mainschifffahrts-Genossenschaft): MSG is a cooperative of inland shipping operators active on the Main, Rhine and Danube handling dry bulk, mirroring Reederei Schwaben's Partikulier/Genossenschaft network on the Neckar for similar industrial bulk customers.

Broad incumbents

• Imperial Logistics (now DSV): Imperial was one of Africa's and Europe's largest logistics platforms with road, rail and inland waterway operations and broad industrial client coverage; post-DSV acquisition, it is the broader incumbent competing for the same German industrial bulk accounts.
• Kühne + Nagel: Kühne+Nagel is the largest global freight forwarder with significant German industrial and chemical freight forwarding and contract logistics; competes directly for the forwarding/customs portion of Reederei Schwaben's service mix.

Emerging players

• Kombiverkehr KG: Kombiverkehr is an intermodal operator focused on rail-road combined transport in Germany with strong industrial customer overlap; comparable as a multimodal partner/competitor for trimodal industrial flows handled by Reederei Schwaben's Heilbronn facility.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Reederei Schwaben