Offshore Equipment Industries News

The German Engineering Federation (VDMA) reported a good order situation for German marine and offshore oil and gas equipment suppliers, but the upsurge in incoming orders is not making the sector euphoric. “The boom in world ship newbuilding orders in 2013 gave us strong order growth, particularly from China and Korea. Here our ongoing export commitment in the global market is paying off: Germany remains the leading country for marine equipment suppliers worldwide. At the same time, we registered above average growth in incoming orders in the offshore oil and gas area,” stated Dr. Alexander Nürnberg, Chairman of VDMA Marine and Offshore Equipment Industries, at the association’s press conference held in Hamburg on Wednesday.

In just under seven months’ time, marine professionals from China and around the world will gather for the opening of Shiptec China 2014 at the Dalian World Expo Center. Taking place October 21-24, it is the 11th holding of this increasingly important event, and the organizers have now confirmed many aspects of the forthcoming event. With its leading role now well established thanks to the involvement of the Chinese government, Shiptec China 2014 has grown to be one of the most important platforms in China for the world maritime industry, especially for those who wish to consolidate business relationships and penetrate the local market.

“We continue to be successful in world markets and have also found new customers in attractive niches in 2011. At the same time, our regular customers are now again ordering not only in the newbuilding segment but precisely also in the retrofit area,” said Dr. Alexander Nürnberg, Chairman of VDMA Marine and Offshore Equipment Industries, at a late 2011 press conference held in Hamburg. The German maritime economy is an essential industrial sector, which — particularly in the rather…

The VDMA (German Engineering Federation) has noted an upsurge in orders for German marine equipment and offshore suppliers, despite a six percent drop in sales in 2010. “We continue to be successful in world markets and have also found new customers in attractive niches in 2011. At the same time, our regular customers are now...ordering not only in the newbuilding segment, but...in the retrofit area,” stated Dr. Alexander Nürnberg, Chairman of VDMA Marine and Offshore Equipment Industries, at the association press conference held in Hamburg on Wednesday. “2010 was a difficult year for marine equipment suppliers in production, as there were few new orders from shipbuilding in 2009. Nevertheless, we have retained our staff.

“The maritime industry will become more and more important for India in the coming years,” said Tobias König, Founder and Managing Director of König & Cie. GmbH & Co. KG, an issuing house based in Hamburg, Germany. A representative of König will be present at the accompanying conference at SMM India 2009. This is the first shipbuilding trade fair on the Indian sub-continent, taking place under quality label of SMM, the leading shipbuilding fair. It is organised by Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH (HMC) and the two partners and co-organisers INTER ADS Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd. (the largest Indian trade show organiser) and E. J. Krause & Associates, Inc. (a globally active U.S. event specialist), at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai from 12 to 14 November 2009.

“2008 was generally still a very good year with impressive 8.4% growth. In autumn, however, gloom also spread to our sector, which has been so used to success in the last five years,” reports Dr. Alexander Nürnberg, chairman of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) – Marine and Offshore Equipment Industries at the association’s press conference in Hamburg. “We had expected a consolidation of the  shipbuilding markets, which had been very overheated up to mid-2008. But no one could foresee the actual massive impact of declines in orders…

German marine equipment suppliers are staying successful. Surveys of their industry association, the VDMA (German Engineering Federation), resulted in new record figures: in 2007, the sales achieved €11.9 billion with now 76,000 employees, making over 13.8% up on the previous year. The export rate was 73%. The sector could thus maintain and expand its world leading role for high tech systems for shipbuilding. 58% of the German suppliers expect the order inflow in home trading still to increase in 2008, pushed by the still extraordinarily high capacity utilization of the German shipyards. But the effects of the global shipbuilding boom can mainly be seen in the foreign markets.

The current situation of the German maritime industry is not far from that which has existed for each of the past several SMM exhibitions in Hamburg. The collective group of shipbuilders, repairers and marine equipment product and system suppliers are still widely regarded as one of the most technically capable and technologically advanced in the world, utilizing generations of accrued know-how to deliver safe, efficient and reliable vessels and systems. According to the latest world shipbuilding statistics, Germany ranks fifth in the world in terms of new tonnage built per annum, but with a market share of only four percent and an increasing outflow of business — particularly an outflow of simpler ship-type construction — to lower cost competitors in developing nations and Korea…

The German Pavilion at Nor-Shipping, to be held in Oslo, Norway from June 12 to 15, will be the setting for presentations by 13 companies. These international companies will show their latest maritime products to the leading international decision makers of the shipbuilding and ship repairing industry and to European shipowners in Hall C. With one exception (Podszuck GmbH), all the companies are exhibitors at the SMM, the world's premier shipbuilding trade fair, which is held every two years in Hamburg, and set up new records for exhibitor and visitor numbers again last year. Hamburg Messe und Congress are once more demonstrating their maritime expertise in organising the German Pavilion in Oslo, for the benefit of exhibitors who wish to be present at important maritime events worldwide.

With an expanded profile and vast interest from the marine industry, this year's Asia Pacific Maritime is scheduled to be the largest ever since its commencement in 1990. The exhibition, which will be held from September 5-7, 2001 and organized by PSA Exhibitions and Reed Exhibition Companies, is expected to draw key industry members from more than 500 companies worldwide. International participation is from 12 country groups — including Belgium, China, Denmark, France and Norway. With Germany holding the designation as this year's "Feature Country," the exhibition will showcase the latest technologies and services in shipping, ports, marine, communication and navigation systems, offshore technology, shipbuilding, and ship repair and conversion.