BCO Conference 2025 / shiftX grows by 13 percent

BCO Conference 2025/ shiftX wächst um 13 Prozent/ Wachstum und Internationalisierung in volatilen Märkten durch Partnerschaften
Stephan Schiller, Managing Partner of shiftX.
BCO Conference 2025/ shiftX wächst um 13 Prozent/ Wachstum und Internationalisierung in volatilen Märkten durch Partnerschaften

In a panel discussion moderated by Stephan Schiller, Beatrice Gilles-Battentier (Branch Manager Transcausse), Thomas Luttrin (CEO Terr’Asia), Hassan Madni (WWG Consolidators), Laurent Vanden Brande (Head of Logistics and IT, ExtraShop) and Joyce van Rijkel (Corporate Project Manager, ExtraShop) shared their experiences of and with the shiftX network.

BCO Conference 2025/ shiftX wächst um 13 Prozent/ Wachstum und Internationalisierung in volatilen Märkten durch Partnerschaften

Over 100 participants attended the BCO Conference 2025 at the International Maritime Museum in Hamburg.

Growth and internationalization in volatile markets through partnerships.

Hamburg, 19. November 2025 – Over 100 shippers and logistics experts discussed current trends, capacities, and rates in sea freight at the BCO Conference 2025 at the International Maritime Museum in Hamburg.

The organizer of what is now the seventh industry meeting since 2018 is shiftX GmbH, an alliance of cooperating companies that bundles its transport volumes to achieve better conditions, predictable capacities, and greater resilience, particularly in Far East-Europe traffic.

Significant growth in all areas

At the start of the conference, managing directors Antonios Rigalos and Stephan Schiller reported strong growth:

  • The booking volume of current annual contracts with shipping companies rose by 13% in the first six months.
  • The number of members in the shiftX network grew by 20% to currently 63 beneficial cargo owners (BCOs).
  • For the 2026/27 tender, shiftX plans to further increase the total volume by up to 25%.

New partnership for greater transparency and better results

One highlight of the conference was the presentation of the strategic partnership between shiftX and Xeneta by Patrik Berglund, CEO of the benchmarking platform Xeneta. The goals of the cooperation are transparency in market and price developments, better data-based decisions, and optimized results for BCOs. This partnership strengthens the position of BCOs in global competition and supports planning security in a volatile market environment.

Internationalization and innovation

With the new country organization in the UK, presented by Keith Gaskin, and the Asian platform OriginX, presented by Conor Henton, shiftX is focusing on a harmonized operating model for booking, first mile, warehousing, and purchase order management.

Market developments and outlook

Experts such as Jan Tiedemann (AXS Marine) and James Hookham (Global Shippers Forum) highlighted the challenges posed by geopolitical tensions, rerouting, and volatile rates. Sebastian von Hayn (Maersk) showed how the Gemini Cooperation between Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd is increasing reliability in liner shipping.

Dr. Cyrus de la Rubia (Hamburg Commercial Bank) provided macroeconomic perspectives: moderate global growth, high interest rates, and structural trends such as deglobalization and decarbonization will shape the coming years. Henning Meyerhoff and Thomas Sengotta (CGI) demonstrated how AI-based capacity forecasts can enable savings of up to 35 percent.

Conclusion

shiftX relies on cooperation, technology, and internationalization to offer shippers planning security and competitive advantages even in a volatile market environment.

Beatrice Gilles Battentier

Beatrice Gilles Battentier

Beatrice Gilles Battentier has a strong background in business administration, with experience in various industries including transportation, finance, and retail. Currently serving as Branch Manager at TRANSCAUSSE, Beatrice is responsible for client portfolio development, contract negotiation, and team management. Prior to their current role, BEATRICE held positions such as Responsable commerciale at MCL Multiple Container Line and Courtier en produits dérivés at Eurobrokers. With a Bachelor of Business Administration from The London School of Economics and Political Science, Beatrice has demonstrated expertise in customer relations, financial markets analysis, and product management.
Pratik Berglund

Joyce Van Rijkel

Joyce Van Rijkel is Project Manager at Extrashop, responsible for leading corporate and cross-functional projects. She drives digital initiatives such as customer engagement solutions, combining a strong procurement background with IT expertise. With experience at Extrashop and Klüber Lubrication, Joyce excels at bridging business operations and technology to deliver sustainable improvements.
Pratik Berglund

Patrik Berglund

Patrik Berglund is the CEO and Co-Founder of Oslo-based Xeneta, the leading ocean and air freight rate benchmarking and market analytics platform transforming the shipping and logistics industry with data analytics. Berglund, who was the 2016 recipient of the prestigious Lloyd's List Next Generation in Shipping award, is a logistics and tech-enthusiast, possesses a true passion for modernizing business processes related to logistics procurement and the supply chain. He has in-depth logistics and transportation experience from several years at Kuehne + Nagel in various roles and also as Co-Founder of Nordilog, a logistics consultancy firm. Founded in 2012, Berglund has grown Xeneta to be the top worldwide source comparing shipping rates against the market average, market highs and lows, ultimately transforming companies’ logistics procurement with actionable data intelligence.
Cyrus de la Rubia

Cyrus de la Rubia

Cyrus de la Rubia is Chief Economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank and responsible for economic, interest rate, and currency forecasts. With over two decades of practical experience in international financial markets, he shares his insights at global conferences and through numerous publications, podcasts, and guest articles in renowned newspapers. After studying at the University of Kiel and Cordoba (Argentina), where he graduated with a degree in economics, Cyrus de la Rubia earned his doctorate at the University of Potsdam on the subject of bond markets. He began his banking career at a financial institution focused on emerging markets, where he headed the economics department. In 2005, he joined his current employer as a senior economist, where he has been chief economist and head of economics since 2012.
Conor Henton

Conor Henton

With nearly a decade of experience in the shipping and logistics industry in Asia, Conor has built deep expertise in vessel agency operations, international logistics, and managing complex joint ventures across the Asia-Pacific region. His career has spanned roles in trade management, strategic development, and leading cross-cultural teams, giving him a unique perspective on the dynamics of global trade. Fluent in Mandarin and experienced in bridging Eastern and Western business practices, Conor is passionate about driving operational excellence and building partnerships that support the flow of global trade. He currently oversees the strategic direction and management of our new origin organisation originX.
Sebastian von Hayn

Laurent Vanden Brande

Laurent Vanden Brande is Head of Supply Chain & IT at Extrashop with 25+ years in retail, FMCG, and logistics. He has led major digital and sustainability transformations, designed distribution networks, and driven operational excellence across companies such as MATCH Supermarket, Belgian Food retailer; SPORTSDIRECT.COM, UK sport retailer, KIALA, last mile delivery company, NOCIBE, French cosmetics retailer and KIABI, French fashion retailer. Laurent is passionate about aligning strategy with execution to build resilient and high-performing supply chains.
Keith Gaskin

Keith Gaskin

Keith Gaskin is the Managing Director of shiftX UK, where he leads the company’s growth and client engagement strategy in one of the world’s most competitive logistics markets. In this role, the British national is responsible for driving commercial performance, expanding service capabilities, and ensuring shiftX UK delivers innovative and resilient supply chain solutions tailored to the needs of Beneficial Cargo Owners (BCOs). Keith’s career is rooted in commercial growth and global ocean procurement, with over two decades of experience negotiating and managing large-scale carrier relationships across major trade lanes. Before joining shiftX in 2025, Keith played a pivotal role at SEKO Logistics, where he served as founder and Group Commercial Director for the UK. During his tenure, he was instrumental in shaping SEKO’s commercial strategy, strengthening its UK and global presence, and driving significant growth by aligning global procurement initiatives with client needs. Keith and the original founders took SEKO Logistics from a start-up operation of just 6 people to a multi office operation in the UK. When he left the business, SEKO Logistics had 8 offices, 450 full time staff and revenues in excess of GBP 250 million per annum. Now at shiftX UK, Keith continues to build on this legacy — applying his commercial acumen, global procurement background, and leadership experience to guide BCOs through an era of supply chain transformation.
Sebastian von Hayn

Sebastian von Hayn

Sebastian started his career in shipping in 1999 when joining Mærsk's International Shipping Education (MISE) while simultaneously studying liner shipping in Hamburg and taking exams at the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, London. While having worked in many roles in Mærsk and across different locations like Germany, Brazil, PRC and Denmark he over the years had the responsibility for several trade scopes like Europe-Southern Africa, Transatlantic, Asia-Mediterranean and Asia Northern Europe. Sebastian is after 26 years with the company right now overlooking the Trans-Suez scope in A.P. Møller-Mærsk's Ocean Network Product department.
Knut Sander

Knut Sander

Knut Sander has been CEO of Robert Kukla GmbH in Munich for 27 years. After completing his training in logistics, the 57-year-old began his professional career in 1993 as head of the groupage department for Eastern Europe at Spedition Boes in Bielefeld before taking over as CEO at Kukla in 1998. With the introduction of short sea shipping as Kukla's core business and the establishment of a powerful network with a total of 15 branches throughout Europe, he has played a key role in the company's organic growth to date.
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Thomas Sengotta

Thomas Sengotta is the manager in charge of a team that focuses on hyper automation and provides consulting services in the disciplines of business process automation (BPA), robotics (RPA), data science, machine learning, deep learning and generative AI. He supports clients in identifying use cases in their companies in order to make processes even more intelligent, for example through the use of AI. He works in a wide range of industries, including telecommunications, energy and retail.

Thomas Sengotta has been working on digitalization and automation projects at CGI since 2010. With more than 25 years of experience in the IT industry, he has in-depth expertise in the successful implementation of business solutions. His professional career has taken him through various positions in infrastructure, software development and consulting in the business process environment.

Hassan Madni

Hassan Madni

Hassan Madni holds an MBA in Marketing from Karachi and has been with World Wide Group Consolidators for 17 years. Rising through roles in product management, sales, and international business, he joined the functional board in 2017 and now serves as Managing Director. He specializes in logistics solutions for retail and fashion brands across Europe, North America, and the Middle East, navigating Pakistan’s infrastructure and supply chain challenges. Outside work, he is a passionate runner, member of the Wednesday Night Pacers, and has completed over 12 international marathons.
Thomas Luttrin

Thomas Luttrin

Thomas Luttrin has been working for Terr`Asia for over 16 years, which is his entire professional career. The 39-year-old started his career in 2009 with a six-month internship in commercial controlling, what gave him a first taste of the company’s culture and ambitions. After two years as a key account manager, Thomas took over in 2011 the role of Sales Director, leading various teams and driving growth for five years. 2016 he broadened his scope to also oversee Marketing and Purchasing, which gave him a more global view of the business and its challenges. Thomas has been acting as deputy managing director since 2018, responsible for strategic business development, among other things. In January 2026, he will embrace a new chapter, becoming both General Manager and Shareholder of Terr`Asia, the company, with whose values and employees he still feels deeply connected today.
James Hookham

James Hookham

James Hookham is Secretary General and a Director of the Global Shippers Forum (GSF), the voice of cargo owners in international supply chains, based in London. He is a graduate in Environmental Science from the University of Bradford and completed a master’s degree in the safe transport of dangerous goods at the University of Manchester. James early career was spent with Exis Technologies (now part of National Cargo Bureau) developing the world’s first remotely accessible computerised dangerous goods database. He later served as deputy editor of Hazardous Cargo Bulletin. Until 2020 James was Deputy Chief Executive of the Freight Transport Association (now Logistics UK) serving the needs of transport users and providers in the United Kingdom and served on numerous UK, EU and global transport and logistics advisory bodies.

Jan Tiedemann

After completing his master’s degree in economic geography at the University of Hamburg and studies in urban planning with a focus on infrastructure at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg (TUHH) Jan Tiedemann initially worked as a management consultant and analyst until he joined BRS Group and Alphaliner in Paris, France, in 2007. In 2014, he returned to Germany to open the joint BRS Group and Alphaliner office in Hamburg as Team Lead for the international analyst team. Since the merger of Alphaliner and AXSMarine in 2021, he has been Vice President of Liner Strategy at AXSMarine, a multinational service and data provider for the maritime industry. In this role, he continues to develop AXSMarine’s product portfolio and is primarily responsible for Alphaliner.com, the world’s leading provider of data and market intelligence for the liner industry.

Stephan Schiller

Stephan Schiller is working in the logistics industry for more than 30 years and has become familiar with almost all dimensions of the industry and management in general. Before joining shiftX in January 2023, the Hamburg native worked for the Otto Group for more than ten years in executive positions, where he was responsible, among other things, for the development and positioning of Hermes as a supply chain logistics provider and the incorporation of the business model into the Otto Group’s supply chain management. As Managing Partner, his focus at shiftX is on the one hand the development of strategic and technological competencies and on the other hand driving growth in products and geography.

Antonios Rigalos

Antonios Rigalos joined the shiftX team on March 1, 2021, as Managing Director – responsible for growth. Antonios is today acting as Managing Partner. In his new role, the native of Hamburg with Greek roots is primarily responsible for shiftXs current core product Ocean and for the commercial activities. Antonios has gained his knowledge and experience in AP MOELLER Maersk, where he worked some 25 years in various commercial positions. Most recently as Global Key Client Director.