- The demise of Germany’s shipping sector has led to the development of Norway, Greece and China as Shipping Nations.
- Germany lost one-third of its fleet- from 3900 to 1300 in the last 6 years.
- The lack of financing and the breakdown of the KG system has led to the present situation.
- Germany still remains a marine super power due to its ship management and manufacturing sectors.
Germany is worst hit by the global financial crisis and it’s visible in its shipping sector. The German fleet has beared all the burden of recession since it was placed as Lehman Brothers folded, writes Dagfinn Lunde, the former Intertanko head (1995-2000) in his column in Splash 247.
How was Germany affected?
There can be few more classic cases in shipping of overleveraging at the peak of the market than how the German fleet was placed as Lehman Brothers folded. Arguably, the beneficiaries of Germany’s demise have been owners in Norway, Greece and China who have been able to hoover up tonnage on the cheap.
Europe’s largest economy has lost one third of its fleet in the past six years alone, down by 1,300 ships from the 3,900 the country controlled in 2012.
Just as frightening, think for a moment when you know that only 323 newbuilds have been contracted by German owners in the same period, which means that the average age of the German fleet is getting a whole lot older while shrinking.
Just a handful of German owners have actually increased in size in the past decade – the likes of Hapag-Lloyd, Oldendorff, Ernst Russ and MPC.
What’s the cause of this crisis in Shipping?
Germany’s continued shipowning crisis is now largely due to a lack of available financing. Back in the day the likes of Dresdner Bank, Commerzbank, Deutsche Schiffsbank, SHL and Deutsche Bank et al were all household names in ship finance. These days, scanning the pages of Marine Money for recently done deals, I only note KFW as active, and that is a bank that primarily focuses on newbuilds. This is an enormous setback. Still, I do note the new owners of HSH Nordbank have committed to ship finance, although with small money, as has Nord Deutsche Landesbank, otherwise it sadly seems it’s a dying business in Germany.
KG System Breakdown
On the equity side the way that the German authorities have clamped down on KG models is a real shame and has destroyed the local market in an irreversible fashion. Further, due to many KGs losing their ships/equity, investors now connect shipping negatively with high risk.
As I have always stressed, the KG system was and is a good system – it just became overused and overleveraged at the wrong moment. KGs are a 200-year-old system that worked for generation after generation with partners clubbing together to invest in ships. Its glory days of the previous decade might never be met again.
The HeyDay is Over
Despite the dreary comments above, make no mistake Germany is still a maritime powerhouse in Europe. Its shipmanagement sector (if one includes Cypriot offshoots) plus its renowned manufacturing expertise remain hard to beat as will no doubt be evidenced at this year’s mammoth SMM shipping exhibition in Hamburg. However, unfortunately the heyday in shipowning and ship finance seem now well behind it.
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Source: Splash 247
