Boris Pistorius visits shipyards

Defence Minister Boris Pistorius visits naval shipbuilding yards in Wismar and Bremen

On 17 January, the Federal Minister of Defence was already in Wismar at ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (tkMS). The reason for this was the award of the contract for the new type 212 submarines CD (Common Design). Six of these submarines will be built for the German Navy, and Norway is expected to order a further six.

Minister Pistorius at NVL, photo: hsc

Today, Boris Pistorius visited Bremen's defence industry.

Accompanied by Bremen's mayor Andreas Bovenschulte, he visited the NVL (Naval Vessels Lürssen) site in Bremen-Vegesack for talks with Friedrich Lürssen, shareholder of the Lürssen Group, and Tim Wagner, CEO of NVL. Minister Pistorius was informed about the status of current naval shipbuilding projects. The NVL is responsible for several projects: Five K 130 II corvettes are awaiting completion at the Blohm & Voss site in Hamburg, although delivery is expected to be delayed until 2026. NVL is also working with the Meyer Group in Rostock to build the new MBV 707 German Navy class supply vessels, as well as the successors to the Oste class fleet service boats. NVL is also involved in the production of the Class 126 frigates, which are being built in Hamburg, Kiel and Wolgast under the management of the Damen Shipyards Group and with German Naval Yards. As NVL does not manage any project alone and the entire naval shipbuilding industry on the coast benefits, value creation in the regions was also a topic of discussion with the managing directors of the shipyards.

At the press conference, Defence Minister Pistorius thanked Tim Wagner (NVL) and Friedrich Lürssen for the invitation to this visit. For him, Bremen is an "...extremely important location. NVL and Lürssen stand for German key technology in shipbuilding. This is even more important now than it was decades ago and the shipyard network with its many sites in northern Germany is therefore of great importance for the region, but not only for the region in which the work is carried out, but also for Germany as a whole and therefore for our security," the Defence Minister emphasised.

Undocking of the naval supply vessel type 707, Neptun shipyard. Photo: hsc

He emphasised that this could be seen in the security situation in the Baltic Sea: "We must be vigilant!" This is particularly true for critical infrastructure. "The demands have never been so great" he said. "We must be present and keep the sea lanes open, the freedom of the seas must be guaranteed, everywhere in the world, and all these tasks require a consistently operational and well-equipped German Navy" said the Minister.

He mentioned the comprehensive modernisation programme with a huge amount of catching up to do. The end of the government and the election campaign in the background did not go unmentioned by the minister, who went on to say that everything had been realised: "Together and across party lines, we have managed to get major projects off the ground even before the election in December," he said, mentioning the four submarines that tkMS will build in Wismar. The presence of Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte showed that Bremen is also an important business location. He emphasised that he is also concerned with innovation and technology as well as strengthening the shipyard locations. Lürssen and NVL are "one of the pearls among the companies in the maritime industry". It is in his interest as mayor that this development continues in the future. When asked how Minister Pistorius assessed the threat from Russia in the form of aggression, he clearly replied that this was not a new realisation. Russia had switched to a war economy and would have 1.5 million soldiers next year. Russia had produced more tanks than all European nations put together.

Christening of the corvette "Emden", Braunschweig class, construction number 7. photo: U. Mergener

"It's about deterrence" said Pistorius. In response to the question of whether the NTV 130 project was progressing and whether the Minister had travelled with an order, he evaded the responsibility of the BAAINBw and said that the project had not yet reached that stage. Pistorius was clear about the defence capacities: the amount of material required was "not on the shelf". The industry is dependent on having reliability and predictability in its orders so that it can make long-term investments in production, but also in research and development. And this requires reliable, detailed financing." In light of the upcoming federal elections, we can only hope that the next federal government will not have to rediscover this realisation. If Minister Pistorius is to send a message to the next federal government, it will be the one he sent on his trip.