Maritime industries – impressive trading fleets, excellent shipbuilding and marine technology know-how

Niedersachsen is home to more than 160 ocean-going shipping companies employing around 20,000 people onshore and at sea in various areas of business ranging from container ships and oil, gas and other tankers through project and heavy goods ships to specialised ships and research vessels.

In shipbuilding Niedersachsen has a broad spectrum of facilities for various tonnages in all sectors of ship- and boat construction. Currently Niedersachsen’s shipyards employ around 6,400 people, more than a quarter of all the employees in this sector throughout Germany. Their key competences are in the construction of non-standard vessels with exceptional technology and equipment, especially cruise ships, yachts, rescue boats, military vessels and other specialised ships. Niedersachsen is Germany’s leading shipbuilding state; its 85% export quota is particularly due to deliveries of cruise ships and yachts.

There are 86 marine technology companies in Niedersachsen, with a strong international focus. Almost half their approximately 4,600 employees work in offshore production, supplying oil and gas. Highly qualified engineers and industrial specialists shape the state’s research and development activities and deliver a high proportion of innovations in this sector.

Ports and Maritime Navigation

Niedersachsen’s 39 sea and inland waterway ports give it a density of ports that is unique in Europe and is immensely important for the economy and structural policy of the coastal region. The handling of goods in Niedersachsen’s nine seaports is booming, with ever-larger ships defining the image of the international movement of goods. Container traffic in Northern Europe is experiencing extraordinary growth rates. Especially important for the infrastructure of Niedersachsen’s economy are the ports of Brake, Cuxhaven, Emden, Stade and Wilhelmshaven.Once the JadeWeserPort Wilhelmshaven (JWP) becomes operational in August 2012, it will provide a permanent boost for the German seaport industry and the range of services it can offer. It will be possible to handle the latest generation of container ships, which will be able to navigate Germany’s only deep water port independently of tides and with just a short channel distance to sail. As Europe’s hub, the JWP will mean that international investors will have optimal access to European and Scandinavian markets as well as those of Eastern Europe and Russia. The ports are connected by water to their hinterland via Niedersachsen’s inland ports and terminals along its inland waterways, together with the road and rail networks. This connection with the hinterland is continually being optimized and upgraded as an integrated transport system.

Marine Technology

Marine technology brings together various areas of industry and technology and combines technologies that can be used to protect and utilise the marine environment. It delivers innovative solutions for sustainable, environmentally friendly utilisation of the marine environment, from coastal protection to deep-water technology, from hydrography and measuring technology to maritime resource mining and from mariculture to ice and polar technologies. The main focus is on the utilisation of the sea as a source of energy and raw materials using offshore technology for the exploration for and production of gas and oil, as well as large sections of underwater technology (sea cables and pipelines) and ice and polar technology. In Niedersachsen, there are 86 marine technology companies employing a total of around 4,600 people in the sector, just under half of whom work in offshore production (oil and gas supply). Sea cable technology is also an especially important factor in Niedersachsen. The offshore gas and oil sector has especially high export rates. By far the largest number of companies is involved in foreign business. Just as characteristic of the region as its international outlook is its specialised research and development, with a high level of innovation from its highly-skilled engineers and industrial specialists.

Shipyards and the Shipbuilding Industry

Niedersachsen’s shipbuilding industry has a wide range of shipyards of various sizes, which operate in various different segments of ship and boat-building. This sector currently employs some 6,400 people, which is more than one-quarter of all the people employed in this sector in Germany as a whole. The industry’s core competence is the building of non-standard ship types requiring a high intensity of technology and equipment, especially cruise ships, yachts, rescue boats, naval vessels and other specialised ships. Niedersachsen is Germany’s top shipbuilding state. Its 85 % export rate is primarily the result of the cruise ships and yachts it builds and delivers. Some 70 % of the value created in shipbuilding today is accounted for by the supply industries, which include various manufacturing industries as well as the service sector. In Niedersachsen there are nearly 150 businesses supplying the shipbuilding industry and employing around 7,200 people. These businesses operate in every area of shipbuilding (systems and components manufacture, materials supply, finishing and assembly services, design and construction). These suppliers are especially involved in specialised shipbuilding, where innovative technologies and individual requirements dominate. These require close cooperation in research and development.

Shipping Companies and Maritime Transport Industry

The maritime transport industry has been benefitting for some time from the strong growth in the international trade of goods. In Niedersachsen there are more than 160 shipping companies which employ some 20,000 people on land and on board ships in various capacities. The shipping companies’ portfolios range from oil, gas and product tankers to ships for specific projects and heavy goods to special ships and research vessels. This makes Niedersachsen the second-largest maritime location in Germany after Hamburg. This is true, too, of the ships operated in Niedersachsen. Niedersachsen’s shipping companies operate 1,273 merchant ships. The German merchant fleet has, according to the Association of German Shipping Companies (VDR), a total of 3,716 ships. The main concentration of shipping in the region is the Ems axis, which has seen an explosive growth in the shipping industry since the 1980s, especially in Leer and in Haren (Ems), and the Stade district on the Lower Elbe. Niedersachsen’s shipping companies have an export rate of 40 %,  with big orders being won from foreign customers, especially in the container and gas tanker markets. Most of the market leaders in this sector are shipping companies from Niedersachsen.

Offshore Technologies

Offshore technologies are a special area of marine technology, in which Niedersachsen, with its North Sea coastline and predominantly flat landscape, possesses enormous opportunities for increased use of onshore and offshore wind energy. The state has recognised the great potential of its maritime industry and is investing strongly in this sector. A master plan drawn up as early as 2003 laid the foundations for the necessary infrastructure, which is continually being upgraded and optimized to meet increased demands. Niedersachsen’s seaports of Cuxhaven, Emden and Brake have been expanded as offshore bases for heavy load operations and the construction of more offshore wind parks has started off the coast of Niedersachsen. These include big investment projects such as BARD Offshore 1 (the first commercial wind park with 80 wind energy plants and an output of 400 megawatts) and the alpha ventus test field, the 12 plants of which have already been producing electricity since 2010). Plants with a planned output of on average megawatts can achieve a full-load period in the North Sea that is twice as long as on land (around 4,000 hours per year). The great depth of the water of 30 to 40 metres makes the foundations of needed technology expensive. Considerable investment is needed for the offshore wind-energy plants  (some 6,000 megawatts). Those have been approved and will feed electricity into the grid in Niedersachsen.