Gerald Hess was born in Hamburg, Germany and completed his apprenticeship in freight forwarding with excellence. Returning to his job in a major German Freight Forwarding company after compulsory army service, he advanced to Assistant Manager in the next few years. Seeking to improve on his English language skills as well as gather experience abroad, he requested a transfer to Toronto in 1982. working with Wolfgang Spillner, he helped built up the company over the following years and was appointed first Traffic Manager and later Vice President.
In 1998 he founded Albacor Shipping Inc. together with Wolfgang Spillner.