Ships are docked at the Bremerhaven container terminal.
Image: dpa
Bremen’s Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte complains that 38 million euros per year for all German seaports is not enough. He warns that Germany is falling behind internationally.
Bremen’s Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte has called for federal funds for the seaports to be multiplied. “Currently, the federal government contributes only 38 million euros a year to the financing of all German seaports. The amount has not changed since 2005. That’s not enough in the back and front,” said the SPD politician to the editorial network Germany. “If we want to develop the necessary boom, the federal government must be more involved in our ports than it has been up to now.”
Bovenschulte pointed out that in 2004 the federal government had subsidized the seaports with around 150 million euros. That would be a much higher sum today.
The mayor of Bremen justified his demand for more money with the importance of the seaports for the economy. Two thirds of German exports left the country by sea. 80 percent of European imports and exports are handled via the ports along the German and Dutch North Sea coasts.
With the Russian war against Ukraine and the necessary energy transition, the importance of the ports has grown. An independent infrastructure includes competitive ports with good hinterland connections by rail, road and water. Otherwise there is a risk that Germany will fall behind internationally.