13. Personnel Expenses

The direct remuneration paid to members of the Executive Board totalled € 2,936 thousand for the 2017 financial year (previous year: € 3,143 thousand). More details on the remuneration paid to the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board can be found in Note 48.

Social security contributions include payments towards the public pension scheme amounting to € 27,636 thousand (previous year: € 26,794 thousand) and payments to the German pension insurance scheme. The increase in personnel expenses in the year under review is due to increases in union wage rates, the higher number of employees and increased demand for external staff. Following restructuring-related expenses in connection with the discontinuation of project and contract logistics in the previous year, the figure for the reporting year includes expenses for the restructuring of the Container segment.

Service expense includes payments from defined benefit pension commitments and similar obligations.

In addition, the Group used an annual average of 710 employees (previous year: 558) of Gesamthafenbetriebs-Gesellschaft m.b.H., Hamburg (GHB).