Environmental protection is also a priority for the German government in the maritime sector. The new Maritime Coordinator is also setting a number of other priorities for action.
Dieter Janecek was appointed as the German government's new Coordinator for Maritime Economy and Tourism on 18 January. The Green politician wants to set new priorities in his work: "Economy and ecology belong together. Germany has set itself ambitious goals with regard to climate neutrality. I would like to support the maritime industry and the tourism industry in achieving these goals and remaining competitive at the same time. SMEs are central to this: They need to be taken on board, skilled workers need to be secured, digitalisation needs to be driven forward and energy costs need to be kept in check. With regard to the maritime industry, it is above all innovative solutions for the decarbonisation of maritime shipping that we need to drive forward."
With the Maritime Agenda 2025 and 2030, your predecessors took up and initiated many of your programme points such as climate-neutral shipping, strengthening Germany as a maritime location and developing innovative and environmentally friendly maritime technologies and drives. Are you continuing these programmes or are you setting new priorities to strengthen the maritime industry?
I would like to build on what already exists and, where appropriate, expand and improve it. For example, the maritime research programme will be expanded and the promotion of climate-neutral technologies will be bundled in a new funding priority "Climate-neutral ship".
We want to further strengthen the competitiveness and innovative power of Germany as a maritime centre. With the "Innovative shipbuilding secures competitive jobs" guideline, the federal and state governments are supporting domestic shipyards in the initial industrial application of innovative shipbuilding products and processes. 37 million euros will be available for this in 2023.
In your priorities, you want to keep the maritime industry competitive, strengthen SMEs, secure skilled workers, drive forward digitalisation and keep an eye on energy costs. What specific measures and framework conditions do you consider necessary to achieve this?
As coordinator for the maritime industry, I want to drive forward the shipping of the future. Germany's and Europe's pioneering role in climate neutrality in shipping is generating enormous growth impetus. By investing in research, the Federal Government is promoting the technological leadership of German companies. An important building block is the new "climate-neutral ship" funding priority in the maritime funding programme. There are also programmes for the conversion and renewal of the coastal fleet. At the same time, we must also proactively address the issue of the availability of alternative fuels. The German government is involved in various initiatives in this area. In January, for example, we joined the Zero Emission Shipping Initiative and we are working closely with our neighbouring countries to establish so-called green corridors. The Federal Ministry of Transport is currently working on the National Ports Strategy, which addresses the availability of marine fuels. The maritime industry will also continue to make a key contribution to the implementation of the energy transition.
With a stable political framework, the offshore wind energy sector, together with the maritime industry and the emerging hydrogen economy, can help to generate future-proof jobs and added value. In this area in particular, marine technology companies - many of which are small and medium-sized enterprises and hidden champions - play a major role with their highly innovative technologies, be it in the development and production of underwater technology or in the development of monitoring systems.
Autonomous systems and artificial intelligence have made great strides in marine technology, but we can certainly do even better in other areas, especially when it comes to expanding the necessary infrastructure. And the maritime industry, like the entire economy, is facing the challenges of demographic change and the need for skilled labour. The creation of adequate framework conditions for the industry as well as increased efforts in training and increasing the attractiveness of professions on land and at sea are a joint task for politics and business.
Your predecessor had intended to start clearing munitions in the Baltic and North Sea. Does this plan still exist and what has been achieved so far?
Old munitions dumped in the sea play a major role in many places around the world. Numerous countries are grappling with the same problems, but have not yet found a solution. Munitions clearance in the Baltic and North Sea is therefore an urgent issue for the German government. In order to research solutions, we have launched the Munitions Recovery Immediate Action Programme. The aim is the technical realisation of a pilot plant for the recovery and destruction of old munitions. The knowledge gained in this pilot project will be incorporated into the permanent operation of the practical clearance programme. It is also intended to be the starting point for the continuous improvement of the required technologies.
Innovative disposal solutions and new salvage technologies developed in Germany therefore also have great international market potential. With regard to the long-term financing of salvage operations, we will sit down with the affected federal states in order to achieve an appropriate and fair distribution of the burden.
Naval shipbuilding is one of the core components of the maritime industry in Germany. Does the German government intend to develop a security and defence policy strategy for naval shipbuilding?
The German government is currently updating its 2020 strategy paper on strengthening the security and defence industry. Naval shipbuilding is integrated into this, as it represents a significant part of Germany's existing defence industry capacities - with considerable value creation potential. The German government is well aware of this. It will therefore always keep an eye on naval shipbuilding and closely monitor any industrial development opportunities that may arise, even without an explicit shipbuilding strategy. The Federal Ministry of Defence has also drawn up a 2035+ target vision, which summarises the important projects and measures planned for the German Navy over the next ten to 15 years.
Following the European tender for the frigate 126, surface naval shipbuilding was categorised as a national key technology. Does this categorisation also apply consistently to future German Navy procurement projects such as the frigate 127 and will these then be built exclusively in Germany?
The industry and associations would naturally like all procurement projects to be carried out exclusively at national level. However, in accordance with European competition and public procurement law, they must face up to competition. Categorisation as a national key technology therefore does not automatically lead to an exclusively domestic contract award, but such an award will only be possible in the future if essential security interests require it. This must be justified in each individual case in a robust and comprehensible manner. As the contracting authority, the federal government will of course always endeavour to ensure a fair distribution of work packages. Incidentally, this was also successful with the frigate 126: Although the contract was awarded to a Dutch company, the four frigates are being built entirely in German shipyards, namely in Wolgast, Kiel and Hamburg. The German naval shipbuilding industry has therefore been heavily involved here as a subcontractor.
Photo: German Bundestag/Inga Haar
Dieter Stockfisch
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