Born in Bremerhaven in 1964, educated in Hamburg and London, Erck Rickmers is the founder and chairman of the Nordcapital group of companies. He comes from a family with a long shipping tradition, and ties to China that stretch back to the 19th Century.

Nordcapital was founded in 1992, as a German financing house. Today it handles an investment volume in excess of US$ 4.7 billion, drawn from an investor base of 30,000.

Container ships represent Nordcapital's primary area of investment and E.R. Schiffahrt, its ship owning and ship management subsidiary, currently has a total fleet of 80 vessels in service and under construction. E.R. Schiffahrt's vessels are time-chartered to the world's leading container lines.