Recently, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius visited TKMS in Wismar. Last week, he continued his tour by visiting Bremen-based defence companies, including the NVL shipyard.
On the occasion of his visit, the Minister of Defence thanked Tim Wagner, CEO of NVL, and Friedrich Lürßen, shareholder of the Lürssen Group, for the invitation. For him, Bremen is an “extremely important location. NVL and Lürssen stand “for German key technology in shipbuilding.
This is even more important now than it was decades ago and the shipyard network with its many sites in northern Germany is therefore of great importance for the region, not only for the region where the work is carried out, but also for Germany as a whole and therefore for our security.”
“The freedom of the seas must remain guaranteed”
He emphasised that this can be seen in the security situation in the Baltic Sea: “We must be vigilant!” This applies, in particular, to critical infrastructure. “The demands have never been so great,” he said. “We must be present and keep the sea lanes open, the freedom of the seas must be guaranteed, everywhere in the world, and all these tasks require a consistently operational and well-equipped German Navy,” said the Minister.
He mentioned the comprehensive modernisation programme with an enormous backlog. The end of the government and the election campaign in the background did not go unmentioned by the Minister, which had still been realised: “Together and across party lines, we have managed to get major projects off the ground even now before the election in December,” he said, mentioning the four submarines that TKMS will build in Wismar.
“Pearls of the maritime economy”
The presence of Mayor Andreas Bovenschulte showed that Bremen is also important as a business location. He emphasised that he is also concerned with innovation and technology as well as strengthening the shipyard locations. Lürssen and NVL are “one of the pearls among the companies in the maritime industry”. It is in his interest as mayor that this development continues in the future.
When asked how Minister Pistorius assessed the threat of aggression from Russia, he clearly replied that this was nothing new. Russia had switched to a war economy and would have 1.5 million soldiers next year. Russia has produced more tanks than all European nations.
“It’s about deterrence,” said Pistorius. In response to the question of whether the NTV 130 project was progressing and whether the minister had arrived with an order, he evaded the responsibility of the BAAINBw and said that the project had not yet reached that stage.
Pistorius was clear about the armament capacities: the amount of material required was “not on the shelf”. The industry is dependent on having reliability and predictability in its orders so that it can make long-term investments in production, but also in research and development. And this requires reliable, detailed financing.”
In light of the upcoming federal elections, we can only hope that the next federal government will not have to rediscover this insight. If there is a legacy of Minister Pistorius, it is the messages he sent on his journey. (HCS)
