Jan Bartels trained as a shipping clerk, and has spent extended periods of his career in the international arena. He was employed for a time by the famous ship brokers Harper, Petersen & Co. in London, and later worked as a ship broker in Miami. After this he returned to London, where he accumulated further experience working for various ship brokers, and then took a degree at London's City University Business School, qualifying as a Master of Science in Shipping, Trade and Finance. Since he joined the HANSA TREUHAND Group in 2002, his tasks have included the drawing up of reports and analytic studies of the shipping markets and the acquisition and management of charter contracts. Today as Managing Director of HANSA CHARTERING GmbH & Co. KG and HANSA SHIPPING GmbH & Co. KG, he also negotiates and coordinates the purchase and sale of ships as well as the shipbuilding orders of the  HANSA TREUHAND Group.