Max Johns

Prof. Dr. Max Johns serves as Vice President Academic and Professor of Maritime Economics at the Hamburg School of Business Administration (HSBA), Germany. He chairs the Maritime Business School @ HSBA and holds concurrent roles with MSC Group in Geneva. His career includes leadership positions at ZDF (German Broadcaster), Eurovision, and the German Shipowners’ Association (VDR). Johns specializes in maritime economics, decarbonization, and emerging technologies.

Education: Bachelor/Master from Université Paul Valéry (Montpellier), MBA from KU Leuven, PhD from Eberhard-Karls-University Tübingen. His research focuses on autonomous shipping technologies, industry innovation models, and international maritime labor standards. He has extensive governance experience through roles at ILO (MLC negotiations), ICS Board, and BIMCO.