2024 Maritime Leader of the Year: Jürgen Schroder, Founder, Schröder Marine Services, Inc.
Jürgen Schröder, founder of Schröder Marine Services, Inc., and the Port Bureau’s 2024 Maritime Leader of the Year, is renowned throughout the port region for his love of Houston, of Texas, of classical music, and his dedication to the welfare of seafarers. He has spent a lifetime serving Houston’s port region, and he traveled a long way to get here. His native Germany is more than 5100 miles from the port of Houston.
Jürgen’s early years were not easy. His first memories are of seeing hundreds of lights in the sky and the flashes of bombs as World War II raged around him. His mother was his absolute hero, working two jobs to support Jürgen and his sister after his father was killed in Poland. There were no luxuries. Their basic meals were black bread, with margarine and marmalade. Fields and fields of kale were grown in the area – and it is still one of his favorite foods.
The Port of Hamburg was only 13 miles away and from a young age Jürgen was drawn to ships. He saw numerous new ship builds launched, the largest being the Tina Onassis by Onassis, a 30-ton deadweight vessel. On the Elsberg River, he could walk to watch the ships arrive.
As early six or seven, Jürgen began to dream of visiting other countries and would often talk of his traveling ambitions. He soon realized the ships he admired were his ticket to travel. At 15, he signed on as deck boy/able body seaman on the Deutsche West Afrika Line and embarked on his first voyage on April 15, 1957. It was quite an experience, but he continued sailing the route for the next three years.
Jürgen became a 3rd/2nd officer on a banana ship, sailing from Honduras to Costa Rica to New Orleans - and occasionally to New York - every 12 days. In New Orleans, Jürgen struck up a friendship with a local policeman, Miller, who came joined Jürgen aboard for the German tradition of coffee and cake in the afternoon. Miller had significant influence on the direction of Jürgen’s life by introducing him to a cousin while at a restaurant, with whom Jürgen would eventually make his first home in the U.S. Sailing requirements didn’t leave much time for socializing landside, but soon letters were finding their way back and forth.
Jürgen found new opportunities waiting with United Ship, an American line with a route from Central America to England. He would not be returning to New Orleans. In Bristol, England, he called in New Orleans from a telephone booth – an operation that took four hours – to propose. Following their wedding in Germany in 1966, Jürgen and his new wife returned to New Orleans. Within 30 days, he found a job as stevedoring superintendent at Texas Transport Terminal in Houston. British-owned, Texas Transport was one of the biggest steamship companies at the time.
It was an exciting time and a turning point in his life, making their first home and eventually welcoming their daughter, Gisela, as he became established in Houston as part of our port region. He went on to build the Texas operations of Roberts Steamship Agency, served as vice president of Charter Oil, and the president of Manchester Terminal as well as other private terminals. In 1971, Jürgen became an American citizen, a decision he has never regretted. He considers himself a “real Texan” and claims anyone can tell it by his accent!
Jürgen has a plethora of memories working on Houston’s docks. Before the digital age, public pay phones played a large role in operations. When a ship finished loading, the stevedore would go to the nearest phone booth to report in. The cost was 25 cents. Occasionally there were outages. Jürgen recalls putting his quarter into a payphone, when quarters just suddenly began to fall out. Ever the entrepreneur, he took the opportunity to visit every phone booth on the docks to collect the bonanza of quarters.
In 1986, Jürgen decided it was time to put his expertise and experience to work in a new endeavor. He founded Schröder Marine Services, Inc., a family-owned stevedoring and freight handling company. Jürgen’s vision was to cater to the breakbulk market, making heavy lifts of objects weighing 300 to 500 lbs. that could not be containerized. He would enter a “partnership with 
Cooper/T. Smith (now known as Coopers/ Ports America). CTS would supply the labor and equipment with Schroeder providing logistics and Supervision. Today, Schröder Marine Services specializes in consulting, breakbulk stevedoring, project cargo, heavy lifts and roll-on/roll-off cargo. The company prides itself on creating custom tailored solutions and in offering quality “old-world” customer service. Sons, Karl and Kristofer, are vice president of operations and director of finance, respectively – and Coopers/Ports America and Schröder Marine Services are still partners.
Jürgen joined the Port Bureau in 1978 and served as a board member for 31 years. In 1981, he became the youngest president of the Port Bureau, serving in that role for three years. He is also an active member of the Houston International Seafarers’ Center, serving on their board since 1985 and president from1992-1993. A tireless worker for the health seafarers, his name has become synonymous with mariner welfare in Houston. During the COVID-19 pandemic, vessel crews went many months without leaving their ships. Schröder was instrumental in organizing local industry efforts to bring aid and resources, including vaccines, for the thousands of seafarers confined to vessels calling in Houston.
He is an active member of the Houston International Seafarers’ Center, serving on their board since 1985 and as board president from 1992-1993. Schröder has also been as an active member of the Port Bureau since 1978, serving as a director, a member of the executive committee, and past president of the board of directors (1981-1983). He is an active member of the Houston International Seafarers’ Center, serving on their board since 1985 and as board president from 1992-1993.
During his time at the Port Bureau, Jürgen met his wife, Vera, and they are the proud parents of three children. Although Jürgen never played an instrument, he fell in love with classical music at 25. As a youth, he belonged to a German book club through which he bought his first classical record, Beethoven’s 6th Symphony Pastoral. During their annual trip to Germany, Jürgen also visits northern Italy to hear Italian classical music, with Venice as a favorite. Three of his children played instruments.
Jürgen’s top favorite place to be, however, is at his office – close to the port, WGMA, and the Seafarers’ Center. He feels his greatest legacy for his children and grand-children is his company and its accomplishments with their customers. “I came to the U.S. with nothing and no financial help. I ended up with this company,” he said.
It is quite a legacy. The Port Bureau is honored to celebrate Jürgen Schröder as our 2024 Maritime Leader of the Year.