Team

We decarbonize heavy duty logistics

Together for more sustainability. We all have different backgrounds, but are united in the cause: decarbonising port logistics with hydrogen as a renewable energy source. Hedda Graf, Marie Kristin Stussnat, Mara Linn Becher, Leif Carstens and Axel Marth from left to right, as well as Karin Debacher (not on the picture).

Leif Carstens

Leif has been in charge of the Clean Ports & Logistics Innovation Cluster since March 2023. As an environmental scientist with a focus on the interfaces between alternative propulsion technologies and energy systems, he brings extensive experience as a project manager in the field of electromobility and hydrogen from major international projects.

Marie-Kristin Stussnat

Marie has been supporting the applications department since August 2024. She brings extensive practical experience to this role. She is familiar with the port, its terminals and structures, as well as the equipment, which she has operated herself for many years. She has further expanded her expertise in recent years by studying logistics management.

Axel Marth

Axel joined our team as a project manager in August 2024 and is responsible for import and distribution issues. Before joining HHLA, he conducted research on the electrochemical storage of hydrogen at the Helmholtz Institute for Renewable Energy in Erlangen-Nuremberg. His core topics were electrochemical liquid organic hydrogen carriers (EC-LOHCs) and the production/use of hydrogen.

Karin Debacher

Karin Debacher started as a project manager at Hamburger Port Consulting GmbH HPC in 2015. There she managed many different international projects and four years later moved to HHLA in the Executive Board Projects and Business Development division. At HHLA, she has been in charge of the Hydrogen division since 2020.

Volker Windeck

Volker moved from HPC to HHLA in 2016 and has been working as a senior project manager in the Executive Board Projects & Business Development department since 2020. The industrial engineer, who holds a doctorate, previously gained international experience in port and terminal planning at HPC. With his MBA in Leadership & Supply Chain Management, he combines operational implementation skills with a flair for innovation. Since June 2025, Volker has served as the head of hydrogen projects at HHLA.

Hedda Graf

Hedda began a dual degree programme in logistics management at HHLA in 2022. She completed the programme after many assignments in various HHLA departments and at the Hamburg School of Business Administration (HSBA). In October 2025, Hedda joined our team and is working with us to advance HHLA’s hydrogen initiative, which involves investigating and testing the conversion of diesel-powered terminal equipment. These include the ‘Clean Port and Logistics’ cluster and H2LOAD.