It should not be a surprise that Erck Rickmers took a philosophical approach when he detailed his decision to sell his shipmanagement and shipbroking operations.

The 53-year-old businessman returned to Germany having spent more than three years at the University of California completing academic research into philosophy and religion.

That experience appears to have rubbed off when he outlined the reasons for selling shipmanager ER Schiffahrt and shipbroker Harper Petersen to Zech Group’s Zeaborn this week.