Bertram Rickmers died as a result of a serious fall down the stairs in his own family villa. The fall occurred on the 60th birthday of his wife Franziska.
In 2017, Rickmers was in control of the Bertram-Rickmers Group with over 100 container ships and 30 special purpose vessels. Rickmers Holding stumbled in the wake of the shipping crisis from 2008 and experienced a spectacular bankruptcy in 2017. The role of "HSH Nordbank", which surprisingly stopped financing at the time, will continue to be reviewed.