A chartering venture to be formed by Costamare Inc and Peter Dohle Schiffahrts has poached a top man from the Hamburg Sud stable.

A new Hamburg operation is expected to be launched early next year with a management team including Hamburg Sud chartering guru Sebastian Diedrich, say European broking sources.

The management is expected to include Peter Dohle’s Andreas Schulte-Westhof and will mark a new phase for Costamare, which under Morten Stamm Kristensen has run an office for two years in Germany.