Uwe Gragen, Dipl.-Ing., sales and project manager for SCHOTTEL GmbH & Co. in Spay/Rhine, and responsible for worldwide sales of propulsion systems for tugboats and ocean-going vessels, has died. Uwe Gragen passed away quite unexpectedly on the evening of 13 May 2005 after returning home from work. He leaves behind a wife and three children.
Born on 21 August 1943 in Königsberg, he undertook his apprenticeship from 1960 to 1963 at the Stülcken shipyard in Hamburg, a city in which he was to remain to study naval architecture. From 1966 to 1971 he worked as project engineer at Orenstein & Koppel in Lübeck.
Uwe Gragen had placed his considerable expertise as a naval architect at the disposal of the propulsion specialist SCHOTTEL since 1 October 1971, to start with in the former engineering offices, later in key positions in sales. With his exceptional product and market knowledge, he earned a reputation with customers throughout the world as a thoroughly competent and dependable business partner. He served owners, shipyards and design bureaus with his able advice and assistance, and his practical ideas found their way into many product innovations.
Under Uwe Gragen’s management, the sales department covering the international tugboat market enjoyed years of outstanding success. He presented SCHOTTEL’s expertise in the field of propulsion technology at numerous specialist trade events around the world. His schedule for next year already included technical papers he was due to read at such maritime events as the 19th ITS International Tug & Salvage Convention 2006 in Rotterdam.
The gap left by his sudden death will be sorely felt by the company. With its high level of commitment, however, the team led by Uwe Gragen is equipped with the necessary know-how to forge ahead with the successful work.