The KG (limited partnership) model helped create a monster container fleet and the repercussions of that overcapacity have been felt in German shipowning circles for the past nine years.
Now some obsevers believe that the influx of cheap Asian finance has led to another calamity.
Their concern comes as Chinese leasing companies such as Bank of Communications (BoCom) have set up offices in Hamburg recently, amid talk of Japanese banks also moving into the German market.
