Will there still be civil shipbuilding in Germany in ten years? This anxious question is driving parts of the industry in view of the large Asian competition.
Overshadowed by the still uncertain prospects, the Association for Shipbuilding and Marine Technology (VSM) reported on Monday (10:00 a.m.) on the current situation in the German shipyard industry.
The central topic is “the role of the maritime industry in avoiding strategic dependencies,” announced the association. Behind this is the concern that after container ships and freighters, further parts of shipbuilding could move from Germany and Europe to Asia.
The German shipbuilding industry lost orders to a dramatic extent during the corona crisis. In addition, the association has long complained of unfair competition, especially with the Chinese competition, which, unlike in Germany, is massively subsidized by the state. VSM Managing Director Reinhard Lüken pointed out in his association’s most recent newsletter that the dependencies on Russia that had come into focus with the Ukraine war were “a piece of cake compared to China”.
hope wind energy
The German shipbuilding industry is now pinning high hopes on the energy transition, including the forthcoming accelerated expansion of wind energy at sea. Because for the construction, service and maintenance of the wind farms in the sea, many new ships are necessary, among other things, which bring material and people to the locations of the new wind turbines. But it is far from certain that the corresponding orders will end up with German companies and thus ensure that employment and technological competence remain in the country.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Economics Minister Reinhard Meyer (SPD) complained on Friday, for example, that the construction of converter platforms for wind turbines was being neglected in his state. These would be produced at shipyards in Spain and Belgium. Investors would have justified this to him with a much better state support there, said Meyer. For VSM CEO Lüken, the energy transition at sea is “a huge opportunity to maintain and expand strategically important skills”. But that doesn’t work with an “industrial policy based on the discounter principle – the main thing is cheap, no matter how and from where”.
In a letter to Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens), the VSM, together with wind power industry associations, demanded that domestic production must become a criterion for the award in future tenders for new wind farms. It is no longer plausible for the acceptance of the energy transition “if huge components for wind farm projects are mainly built abroad and have to travel long distances before they are installed in the North Sea or Baltic Sea,” the letter said.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
