VSM Association News February 2022 published with a "bang"

Managing Director Dr Reinhard Lüken compares the shipbuilding industry to a symphony orchestra

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Dear readers,

The shipbuilding industry is like a large symphony orchestra in which the composer and conductor bring together the various "trades" in perfect harmony to create a masterpiece. To stay with this image, the year began with a bang, just like the famous second movement of Haydn's Symphony No. 94.

The insolvency of four major shipyards has not only shaken the employees and affected regions to the core. It has also emphasised the urgent need for action, putting the shipbuilding issue on the agenda right at the start of the new German government's term of office.

In fact, the move came as little surprise. For almost two years, all energy was invested in surviving the coming months - valuable time in which a permanently viable plan B should have matured. As a result, the already difficult task for the insolvency administrator is under additional time pressure. Time is essential to ensure that not only short-term problems are cushioned, but that solid long-term solutions are found. The Federal Minister of Economics is currently in Wismar. There are high hopes that he will support a Plan B, the essential framework conditions of which the VSM has been calling for since the beginning of the pandemic: politicians must create suitable framework conditions so that shipbuilding in Germany and the EU can regain realistic prospects on a broader basis. The pandemic has brutally shown us the weaknesses of a strategy that relies solely on high-end niches. These will continue to play a key role in the future, but the German maritime industry also needs additional pillars in the volume markets. Fortunately, there are plenty of these in the EU internal market!

In order to achieve the European climate targets, the merchant fleet must be modernised and replaced more quickly so that it can operate efficiently and in a climate-neutral manner. We can accelerate the expansion of offshore renewable energy generation through smart concepts and optimised ships. We need solutions to be able to import clean energy in the future and serve new markets such as carbon capture and storage. Europe itself must be in a position to do this. An ever-increasing dependence on China cannot be a solution for our living and economic area. The enormous investments required should be utilised for strong, sustainable growth in shipbuilding and the entire industrial value chain in Europe. For decades, shipping promotion in the EU has been blind to the question of where added value is created.

Our new federal government has the opportunity to ensure that all sub-sectors of the maritime industry are well orchestrated, so that the symphony continues powerfully, as with Haydn, and is enthusiastically received for a long time to come.

Have fun reading!

Dr Reinhard Lüken
(VSM Managing Director)

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