Something is slowly happening in the maritime sector! On 9 November, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) announced that the Bundestag had decided to "...to increase the funds for promoting innovation in German shipbuilding by one million euros. This means that the federal government will provide a total of 13 million euros in 2013 as part of the 'Innovative shipbuilding secures competitive jobs' funding programme..." ready.
One million euros is not a lot for a federal budget of 312.7 billion euros, but we're not complaining. But there's more - on the BMWi homepage we stumble across the "Industry focus Maritime Economy", which surprises us with the following excerpt:
"A strong, competitive maritime economy is of great overall economic importance for a foreign trade-orientated country like Germany. Maintaining and strengthening Germany as a maritime location is therefore one of the most important goals and fields of action of the German government's maritime policy."
Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology: Sector focus on the maritime industry
Even if we are not (yet) convinced that the topic is as important to the federal government as it is presented here, it is worth reading the brief profile. Maritime Economy of the BMWi. There you will also find a reference to the National Masterplan Maritime Technologieswhose aim is to "...to increase the presence, perception and competitiveness of German marine technology on national and international markets."
The Masterplan is based on the decisions made by the Bundestag in March 2007 and March 2009; the Masterplan itself was presented in July 2011: On 50 pages the maritime Techniques and Technologies and the master plan on how to optimise the maritime sector in Germany economically and technologically. In addition to the necessary networking more maritime interests, the masterplan formulates the aim of strengthening the maritime sector in society.
You can read about this on page 21:
I. Introduction
(6) Improve industry image and public perception
An important goal is to raise public awareness of marine technology as a cohesive industry and to position it permanently. Marine technology is of great importance to people in many respects. Outstanding technologies are needed in order to utilise the possibilities of the sea sustainably. Emphasising safety, environmental protection and nature conservation in marine technology also leads to greater acceptance. The safe extraction of oil and gas or other raw materials from the sea will only be possible in the coming decades if marine technology develops reliable new technologies. This positive aspect should be more strongly recognised. To showcase the potential of marine technology, it is planned, for example, to utilise the important industry trade fair for maritime technologies, the SMM (Ship, Machine, Marine Technology) in Hamburg, or to examine the introduction of a national marine technology prize.
National Masterplan Maritime Technologies (NMMT), July 2011 as PDF
That's all?!
At least on this point, the masterplan falls well short. Anyone who now thinks that there is much more to discuss and possibly criticise about the NMMT than this one point is right. But: The masterplan already contains the important maritime The aim of this segment, however, is to unite players from politics, business and science with their intentions. Improving public perception be. After all, that was one of the three core claims of the masterplan in its introduction. The problem is not (only) the maritime sector for itself, but rather its Significance and perception in the German economy, politics and society.
The very idea of awarding prizes: experts honour high technology from their specialist field - this only guarantees that people will remain among themselves. This does not result in any added value in terms of publicising the topic! Using industry trade fairs such as the SMM to present the potential of marine technology is not a realisation, but a matter of course, a duty and not an optional extra. The sea blindness in society must be attacked, not with maritime action plans on their own territory to convert their own people! In other words: VW and Siemens, their medium-sized suppliers, the citizens and the politicians they elect must be a maritime Awareness and interest must be developed, they must be addressed and taken along.
And yet, something is happening: At least there is a master plan!
www.nmmt.de
Homepage of the Coordination Centre of the National Master Plan Maritime Technologies
English 
German
We are on the right track, but we need to step on the gas! Our core topic of "the maritime" must be anchored in the German DNA in a way that goes beyond an insight into the circumstances. This blog must report on and comment on all aspects, no matter how small.