Category: Magazine

Concerned about Germany as a maritime location

There are increasing calls from the two important pillars of the German maritime industry, shipbuilding and shipping, for more support from politicians. IG Metall Küste, for example, expects the federal government to ensure that the announced orders for research and naval vessels create work at the shipyards as quickly as possible and that the procurement offices do not get lost in the procurement jungle. The 32nd shipbuilding survey carried out by IG Metall Küste among the works councils of 42 German shipyards revealed that the number of employees at the shipyards had reached its lowest level to date at 14,027 - a decline of almost 16 per cent compared to the previous year....

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New mine defence vehicles for European navies

As their mine countermeasure vessels are on average around 30 years old, most European navies are replacing existing weapon systems with a mix of mother ships and unmanned plug-and-play systems to manage a full detect-to-engage cycle. The navies of Northern, Western and Southern Europe continue to receive the majority of funding for new build programmes, while Eastern European navies, for example from Bulgaria, Romania and Ukraine, are seeking to modernise their existing ships. As of September 2022, there are fourteen Mine Countermeasures (MCM) projects for European navies with a total of 82 platforms in the pipeline. Five of these projects are already underway and nine are planned. The following overview begins...

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Sailing in the wake of the kite

In recent decades, China has continuously upgraded its navy with strategic foresight. Its democratic neighbour India, on the other hand, has largely failed to build up its maritime capabilities. Now could be the time to change course. Indians upset by recent images of Chinese naval vessels in Indian Ocean ports such as Hambantota (Southern Province of Sri Lanka, editor's note) and Djibouti would have been pleased to learn that on 15 August, nine Indian Navy warships in seven ports worldwide - one on each continent - flew the Indian flag to mark the 75th anniversary of independence from Britain....

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Training centre for federal police at sea

After four years of planning and construction and an investment of eleven million euros, the Federal Maritime Police have put a new training centre into operation in Bad Bramstedt. Commanders and junior nautical officers can now train on four virtual ship bridges and experience all weather, current and maritime traffic situations realistically. The first training courses have been using the new facility since October. It is also possible to train the approaching and setting down of police forces on moving ships at sea and the landing of a helicopter on the deck of one of the large Potsdam-class rescue ships. The four ship bridges of the training centre can be interconnected in order to demonstrate the handling of...

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Death in a typhoon

The creation of the S.M.S. FRAUENLOB was largely due to a Berlin "women's association". In 1860, the schooner sank in a storm off Japan. Everything had actually started quite well. After the need for a navy to protect the German coast became apparent during the First Schleswig-Holstein War, various patriotic institutions had successfully campaigned for the construction of warships. From today's perspective, the fact that the initiative to acquire a warship came from the Berlin-Potsdam Women's Association was remarkable and decisive for the creation of the FRAUENLOB. As early as the first year of the war, it published an appeal for donations in the local press and was able to raise a considerable sum. In addition...

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