Category: Security policy

German Navy - between quality and quantity

German Navy - between quality and quantity

Posted by | 22. dec 2015 | , , , | 7

Fleet shrinks to historic low Shortly before the turn of the year, the German Navy shrank by a further five units. Last week, two tankers, two speedboats and a minesweeper were decommissioned. This reduces the number of floating units in the German Navy to 62 - a new low in the history of the navy. - Kieler Nachrichten 21.12.2015 Kieler Nachrichten reports on the planned decommissioning of the aforementioned units, whose replacement is already planned but not necessarily visible on the horizon. In November, Inspector General Volker Wieker informed parliament in his "Report on the material operational readiness...

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Bundesregierung legt Bericht zur maritimen Wirtschaft vor

Posted by | 16. Aug 2015 | , | 5

Am 12. August hat das Bundeskabinett den vierten Bericht der Bundesregierung über die Entwicklung und die Zukunftsperspektiven der maritimen Wirtschaft in Deutschland veröffentlicht. Dieser wird alle zwei Jahre zur Nationalen Maritimen Konferenz vorgelegt und beschreibt die aktuelle Lage sowie Fördermaßnahmen und politische Schwerpunkte der Bundesregierung in den Bereichen Seeschifffahrt und Häfen, maritime Industrie, Offshore-Windenergie und Meeresforschung.Der begleitenden Pressemitteilung haben wir entnommen, dass die Schiffsbaupolitik in Deutschland eine stärkere Wahrnehmung durch die Politik erfahren soll. So wurde zum 1. Juni 2015 das Programm "Innovativer Schiffbau sichert wettbewerbsfähige Arbeitsplätze" durch das Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi) verlängert. Es soll die Markteinführung von Innovationen schützen und den Bau kleiner Schiffe und beweglicher Offshore-Strukturen förderfähiger gestalten. Weitere wichtige Elemente der schiffbaulichen Förderstrategie des Bundes sind das Forschungs- und Entwicklungsprogramm "Maritime Technologien für die nächste Generation", die sogenannten CIRR-Zinsausgleichsgarantien sowie die Exportkreditgarantien des Bundes. Überhaupt lohnt sich die Lektüre des 59-seitigen Berichtes, so wird neben den wirtschaftlichen, ökologischen und technologischen maritimen Entwicklungen auch über die Zukunft einer Europäischen Hafenpolitik berichtet. In Angesicht der Tatsache, wie schwierig sich bereits eine nationale Hafenpolitik gestaltet, scheint es doch bei allen schwierigkeiten Anlass für pragmatischen Optimismus zu geben, dass es auf europäischer Ebene zu sinnvollen Synergien kommen kann. "Vierter Bericht der Bundesregierung über die Entwicklung und Zukunftsperspektiven der maritimen Wirtschaft in Deutschland" als PDF herunterladen. Den aktuellen Bericht "Fakten und Zahlen zur maritimen Abhängigkeit der Bundesrepublik Deutschland"...

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The "new Suez Canal"

The "new Suez Canal"

Posted by | 9 Aug 2015 | , , | 2

Reports about the opening of the "new Suez Canal" (http://www.arcor.de/content/aktuell/news_politik_ausland/3897896,1,Neuer-Suezkanal-wurde-eröffnet,content.html) are making the rounds in the media. This is in fact an extension of the existing canal. The very short construction period of just one year is remarkable. Egypt financed the construction with private funds from its citizens and is now hoping for more ship passages and an economic upturn in the canal region. Internationally, it has touted the project as its gift to the world. The expansion means that passing traffic is possible on larger sections, but not on the entire route. For shipping, the time spent in the roadstead or in the Bitter Lakes will be reduced.

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German Navy pools forces in naval battalion

German Navy pools forces in naval battalion

Posted by | 1 Apr 2014 | , , | 3

The German Navy is pooling its infantry forces in a new but historically unprecedented organisation! As a result of the realignment of the Bundeswehr decided in 2010, the specialised infantry forces of the German Navy will be combined into a naval battalion from 1 April 2014. Specifically, this involves the naval protection forces, the boarding forces and the mine divers; the base will be Eckernförde. The naval battalion is described as a multitool by the armed forces themselves: As part of its alliance commitments, particularly in international crisis management, conflict prevention and peacekeeping missions, the German Navy can be found all over the world. The protection of sea routes is just as much a part of the tasks as the protection of ships, harbours,...

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Nicaragua Canal project - security policy implications

Posted by | 30 Sep 2013 | , , | 4

Klaus Mommsen The Panama Canal is to be rivalled; some 600 km to the north-west, Nicaragua also wants to build a canal across the Central American isthmus. The idea for this project is by no means new. The first proposals were already made in Spanish colonial times, when in 1825 the government of the then "Federative Republic of Central America" had the first preliminary studies carried out. Gradually, several routes between 225 and 270 kilometres long were considered. In the end, a route from Greytown parallel to the border with Costa Rica was apparently favoured, initially about 60 km to the west. The canal would then join the Rio San Juan and follow it to Fort San Carlos in Lake Nicaragua. Beforehand, locks would have to raise ships 32 metres to the level of the lake. A large part of the passage was to be travelled on the 26 m deep lake. From the western shore of the lake, an approximately 35 km wide land crossing was then planned from San Jorge to the Pacific coast at Brito - locks would of course also be necessary here. However, this proposal was in competition with two other routes outside Nicaragua: through Mexico (Isthmus of Tehuantepec) and through Panama. When the US government saw problems of poverty and political instability in Nicaragua as well as risks from nearby volcanoes and also suspected that Great Britain (British Honduras) had too much political influence, Panama won the race. French engineers had already begun construction of the Panama Canal; in 1904, the British bought the...

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