Germany News

Norwegian Cruise Line has taken delivery of the 168,028-gross-ton cruise ship Norwegian Bliss from shipbuilder Meyer Werft during a ceremony in Bremerhaven, Germany, marking the conclusion of an 18-month building period.Norwegian Bliss is the third vessel in the line’s Breakaway Plus class and the first cruise ship specifically designed for Alaska cruising.The ship features a two-level competitive electric-car racetrack that sits at the top of deck 19; it is the largest at sea and a first for any North America-based cruise ship.

Dutch-based transport company A2B-online Container B.V. has added a fourth weekly sailing on its service between Hutchison Ports London Thamesport and Moerdijk in The Netherlands. The new sailing is inaugurated today (18 April 2018) by the first call of the m.s. A2B Spirit (ex-Norfeeder), a Sietas 151 type 508 TEU container ship, the fourth of this class owned and operated by A2B. Commenting on the new sailing, Clemence Cheng, Executive Director Hutchison Ports, said:“London Thamesport offers its customers a service tailored to their specific demands.

CWind announced the launch of its wholly-owned subsidiary in Germany. CWind Germany will be headquartered in Hamburg and will be responsible for the sales and marketing of CWind’s services in Germany. The company has also said it has won the license to lease employees under German law, known in Germany as ‘Arbeitnehmerüberlassungslizenz’ and is now in a position to lease employees as third party technicians to German client companies. CWind is building a leading position in the U.K. and Germany and is looking at opportunities to further expand its footprint in the region.

MINSHIP Shipmanagement, based in southern Germany, has chosen DNV GL’s ShipManager fleet management software solution for its fleet of dry cargo vessels.MINSHIP is optimizing processes as they are managing a growing fleet. A key part of the optimization involves replacement of various separate systems and spreadsheets for ship management activities with a user-friendly and integrated fleet management solution.“Our future outlook focuses on becoming more digitalized,” says MINSHIP Deputy Fleet Director Christian Altmann.

In honor of today’s World Cup match between the United States and Germany, a new graphic from the U.S. Census Bureau shows foreign trade statistics for the top five exports and imports between the two nations in 2013. In 2013, top U.S. exports to Germany included $5.7 billion in civilian aircraft, engines and parts and $5 billion in passenger cars, while Germany sent $25.8 billion in passenger cars and $9.4 billion in medicine and dosage form to the United States. census.gov

The ocean cruise market in Germany continues to be one of the fastest-growing tourism sectors. Going by current trends, Germany could rival the UK’s position as the second largest ocean cruise market. Clia Germany revealed at ITB Berlin that 1.77 million German passengers took an ocean cruise in 2014 – a notable rise compared with the 1.7 million that cruised from the UK in 2013. Clia UK and Ireland said the UK’s 2014 figures would be announced next week, at the Cruise Shipping Miami exhibition and conference.

Oslo based ship owner MPC Container Ships ASA said it has reached a deal to acquire SITC Makassar, a 2,496 TEU vessel built in 2006 in Germany.   The vessel, to be renamed AS Patricia, will be acquired for $9.9 million, including initial working capital.    The vessel will be taken over by the company’s 50/50 joint venture during April 2018.   “Despite observable increases in secondhand vessel prices, . . . the current price level still offers an attractive entry point for further acquisitions,” the company said in its 2017 Annual Report. “As such, the Group intends to further grow its fleet through accretive acquisitions in 2018.”  

Norway plans to buy four submarines and Germany two in a bid to strengthen strategic partnership, says a report in Reuters. Defence Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide confirmed that the the government plans to invest in four new subs from Thyssenkrupp (TKMS). The Nato member is expected to sign a joint contract with Germany in 2019, however, the final sum of the new  subs was not specified. "Cooperation and joint purchasing with Germany are the best choices," Ms Soreide said. The Norwegian…

The German company competing for Australia's $50 billion submarine contract is ramping up its pitches and lobbying became more intense. Germany is positioning itself as the "safe option" to build Australia's new submarine fleet, arguing it avoids upsetting China. The German company ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) linked its bid to strategic tensions in the South China Sea. It also said that awarding the contract to Japan could damage Australia's relationship with China. According to a report in ABC…

The United Nations shipping agency reached an agreement on Friday to cut carbon emissions, following years of slow progress. The compromise plan, which will cut emissions by at least 50 percent by 2050 compared with 2008 levels, fell short of more ambitious targets. Kitack Lim, Secretary-General of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), said the adoption of the strategy "would allow future IMO work on climate change to be rooted in a solid basis". The IMO said it would also be pursuing efforts towards phasing out CO2 emissions entirely.

International Maritime Organization (IMO)'s work to enhance fishing vessel safety received a boost today when Germany became the sixth State to accede to the 2012 Cape Town Agreement. The Agreement involves a basic set of safety measures for larger high seas fishing vessels, covering issues such as stability, construction and protection of crews and will enter into force 12 months after 22 States express their consent to be bound by it. These States must have a minimum of 3,600 fishing vessels of at least 24 meters in length operating on the high seas.

The Danish and German governments plan to sell the joint-owned Scandlines ferry line and companies from Sweden, Denmark and Germany had expressed an interest in buying the firm. "We are currently studying the possibilities (for a sale) and we expect to make a decision in mid-November," Danish Transport Ministry spokesman Michael Birch said. The state railways of Denmark and Germany each own a 50 percent stake in Scandlines AG. The Danish-German ferry company was originally expected to go public only in a few years' time, but this would not be the case if Scandlines succeeded in finding a buyer, Birch said. He added that companies in Denmark, Germany, Sweden and further afield had expressed an interest in buying the firm.

Greek ferry operator Attica Enterprises will deploy four new car-passenger ferries in the Baltic Sea in 2001, according to company officials. The 29,800-grt Superfast ferries will offer overnight crossings between Germany and Finland and Germany and Sweden from January through September. Superfast VII, VIII, IX and X, currently under construction at Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft AG in Kiel, Germany will have the capacity to carry 604 passengers in 172 cabins, and 125 trucks and 110 cars. The ferries will be able to develop speeds of up to 29.2 knots. They will connect the Stockholm and Helsinki greater metropolitan areas to northern Germany in about 17 and 21 hours respectively.

FREIBURG, Germany - Northrop Grumman Corporation has appointed Eckehardt Keip as managing director of Northrop Grumman Holding GmbH, which includes operating entities Northrop Grumman L.E.F. GmbH and Northrop Grumman LITEF GmbH. Keip has been managing director of Northrop Grumman LITEF in Freiburg for nearly eight years; and, in his new, expanded role, he will be responsible for leading all areas of the company's Navigation Systems Division operations throughout Germany. "This strategic new appointment will unite and centralize all of our operations in Germany under Eckehardt Keip's leadership," said Liz Iversen, vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman's Navigation Systems Division. Northrop Grumman L.E.F.

Switching from coal to gas as the power sector is a significant opportunity to cut emissions. This alternative can save more than 50% of emissions per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced. “I think it is both timely and necessary for German to develop a plan for how natural gas can contribute to fulfilling the ambitions of the Energiewende (energy transition). Increasing the use of natural gas will be beneficial both for the German economy and for the climate,” Lund said. On June 24…

Tognum has picked up the accolade ‘Top Engineering Employer’ for the fourth time running. It also won the seal of quality ‘Top Employer in Germany’ for the third time. This year, a total of 34 companies in Germany were named the most attractive engineering employers, and a total of 118 qualified for the ‘Top Employer in Germany 2012’ category. As ‘Top Employer in Germany 2012’ and ‘Top Engineering Employer’, Tognum gained the highest grade for its attractive financial benefits such as salary and pension schemes.

Carole Coune has officially assumed the office of Secretary General of the International Transport Forum at the OECD. As of August 1, 2011, Coune takes over from Jack Short, who is retiring, as leader of the Paris-based intergovernmental organization which brings together 52 nations. On her first official visit to a member country, Coune met with Germany’s Federal Minister of Transport, Construction and Urban Development, Dr. Peter Ramsauer, and State Secretary Rainer Bomba in Berlin on Tuesday to discuss her strategic vision for the future of the International Transport Forum. Minister Ramsauer assured Coune of Germany’s support for her work. He emphasized that Germany is prepared to host the Forum’s annual summit until at least 2017. ”I am delighted that Ms.

Banks sell Imtech Traffic & Infra; sale of Imtech Germany launched. The administrators and creditors of collapsed Dutch engineering services firm Royal Imtech pressed on with the forced sale of its businesses to raise funds to settle its bills. The sale of the German unit started on Tuesday, with insolvency administrator Peter-Alexander Borchardt saying he had already received more than 40 expressions of interest. Imtech Germany filed for insolvency on Aug. 6, and the parent company followed suit a week later, capping a long slide that began in 2013 after accounting irregularities were uncovered at its Polish and German operations. The group has since hastily sold operations representing 43 percent of its revenues.

At the SMM maritime trade show in Hamburg, the Bremen-based shipbuilding supplier and provider of consulting and ship-related services LOEWE MARINE announced that it has received an order from shipbuilders Flensburger Schiffbau Gesellschaft (FSG) to supply the rudder systems for five newbuilds. The order takes LOEWE's partnership with FSG to the next level, coming, after five completed rudder projects for FSG over the past two years. It includes a twin arrangement of a high-efficiency flap rudder for a 194.8-meter RoPax ferry ordered from FSB by Irish Ferries.

The collapsing maritime shipping industry is stoking another European banking headache, this time in economic powerhouse Germany, says a report in WSJ. While the Commerzbank, Germany’s second largest bank, reported earnings, warned that its losses on shipping loans could be as high as EUR600 million ($641 million) this year after nearly doubling last year to EUR559 million. Stephan Engels, Commerzbank’s chief financial officer (CFO) admitted that there was little immediate prospect of recovery.

68.1 million tonnes of cargo were transported between the seaport of Antwerp and Germany during 2016. This represents growth of approx. 4 million tonnes or 6.1 percent compared to the previous year. Thus Europe’s second-largest seaport is continuing its growth course as an important hub for German industry. While truck traffic rose by 4.3 percent in terms of tonnage, transportation by inland waterway vessel increased by 7.3 percent and railway transport services grew by as much as 8.3 percent.

European intermodal operator Geest North Sea Line strengthened its sales team in Germany. Jürgen Reinke has been promoted to the position of General Sales Manager for Germany and will be based in Geest's Duisburg office effective 1 April, 2004, and Frank Possel has been appointed as Regional Account Manager, located in Hamburg. Reinke joined Geest in 2002 as Regional Account Manager for the Ruhr area. His early career was in the Hamburg freight forwarding community followed by sales positions with RoRo ferry and trailer operators PTI Portbridge, Norfolkline and DFDS. Possel has joined Geest from Seawheel. "Central and Southern Germany, especially the Ruhr region, have always been important markets for Geest but we now find that we are increasingly competitive in Northern Germany too.

Germany and Iran seeks to develop economic relations in the field of maritime trade and ports for increasing the trade volume between the two countries, reports PressTV. German Ambassador to Tehran Michael Baron von Ungern was quoted by Fars news agency as saying that increased cooperation between the two countries’ ports will certainly boost the volume of trade between Tehran and Berlin. Germany is a major trade partner for Iran and both sides are willing to develop maritime cooperation between Iran’s Rajaei port and German’s Hormozgan port that are going to be key players in this trade deal.