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offshore-special ships and naval-ship- building ? German shipyards proved one- self, in spite of crisis, as beingcompetitive and able to win new orders. OPPORTUNITIES IN NEW EXPORT MARKETS Marine equipment and offshore suppli- ers have concentrated on developing new export markets in addition to benefiting from the slowly increasing orders in es- tablished areas. The VDMA delegation trips in 2009 and 2010 were successfuland are being continued at the same highlevel in 2011. Emerging shipbuilding gi- ants such as India, Brazil and Russia arecoming to the fore in the wake of the top trio of Asian shipbuilding countries China, Korea and Japan. In 2010, 2,780oceangoing vessels were again ordered worldwide (compared to the previous year: 1,599), with 928 (605) in China, 464 (140) in South Korea, 385 (281) in Japan and 173 (89) in the EU-27, in- cluding 21 (7) in Germany. Orders on hand for ships worldwide declined again last year, from 9,226 vessels to 7,822. CHINA?S STILL THE LARGEST The main foreign markets for German suppliers in 2010 were in Asia (35 per- cent) and other European countries (33percent). China is the largest foreign mar- ket, accounting for 21 percent of exports, trailed by Korea (9 percent). The sector is continuing to monitor very closely Asian countries? efforts to expand local suppliers. German firms are thus aiming to retain their existing edge in the techni- cal and logistics area and improve on this with innovations. Know-how protection is continuing to become more significant, also within joint ventures with local part- ners in Asia. OUTLOOK FOR OFFSHORE German suppliers are continuing to stepup their involvement in the offshore oil and gas industry that they have been dis- playing for several years. Christoph Daum at MENCK GmbH(Kaltenkirchen): ?Demand for high-qual-ity, reliable equipment is high. Availabil- ity, dependability and high environmental and safety standards are crucial compet-itive advantages of German companies in this respect. A system leadership, as fre- quently called for in the political area, isnot a prerequisite for long-term successin this very international business.? Offshore suppliers are active in the oil and gas area as well as the offshore wind segment. Here there are synergies that favor ?learning from one another? and therefore add to the attraction of Ger- February 2012www.marinelink.com 23After 50 years, a new sailing vesselhas been built by shipyard BVT, Bre- men.MR Feb.12 # 3 (18-25):MR Template 2/7/2012 2:17 PM Page 23