Page 82: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2015)

SHIPBUILDING: GERMANY

A Alfred lfred

HartmannHartmann

The New Captain on the Bridge at VDR “For Germany it is important to remain a strong industrial location – including our shipping industry.” hipping owner Alfred Hartmann is the new President of the Asso- ciation of German Shipowners

S(VDR). For the ? rst time a mid- size company owner is at the helm of the

VDR, and this 68 year-old wants to bring the German shipping industry back on course. He discussed his plan with MR.

A few years ago, you said during an in- terview that with some luck the ship- ping industry could overcome its cur- rent crisis and begin an upward trend.

But the industry has not recovered.

What went wrong?

The consequences of the ? nancial crisis in 2008 have been heavy. In 2011 we could see some kind of upswing – but this, in turn, contributed to new vessel orders which once again created overca- pacities. Due to the crisis, the ship prices drastically dropped. On the other hand, a lot of investor money was in circulation – and they were looking for investment opportunities. Not to mention the fact that all of a sudden other ship types were more in demand than those which had been ordered. At the same time, oil pric- es increased drastically. Our industry is still suffering because of this, particular-

C(5*2120,&6($7,1*6<67(06 ly container and bulk shipping. We can )25$//0$5,1($33/,&$7,216 see that some more vessels must be giv-

C6+2&.0,7,*$7,1*0$5,1( en away by force because also the banks 6($7,1*6<67(06 are still under pressure. Banks have not )25&20)257 6$)(7< received compensation for many of their

C$%6&(57,),('72,02 ? nanced ships. Very often even not even +,*+63(('&2'( repayment of interest. Under these cir-

C<53(5)250$1&(:$55$17< 3$&,),&$7256,213$&,),&$'/;3,/27 cumstances banks are asking themselves &+$,5:)/2256/,'( “how long can we stand this?” The cur- rent situation for many shipping owners 82 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • APRIL 2015

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