Why Germany wants a brand new nationwide port technique – DW – 04/10/2024 | EUROtoday

Port of Hamburg was a vibrant a part of the northern German metropolis and a magnet for tourism. Everyone may go to the port to observe the ships roll in and dockers at work. Germany’s largest port is generally known as the nation’s “gateway to the world.” However, this has basically modified. Entire areas are actually cordoned off, with guests going through fences or closed gates.

Since September 2001, when the terrorist assaults within the United States claimed 1000’s of lives and shook the complete Western world, delivery infrastructure has been thought-about security-sensitive as a result of it’s susceptible to terrorist assaults.

Moreover, illicit actions resembling drug trafficking, unlawful import and export of weapons, and human trafficking now pose challenges not solely to customs officers however to all state safety actors.

Internationally, this was addressed with the introduction of the ISPS Code (International Ship and Port Facility Security Code) negotiated in 2002 underneath the auspices of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). The code got here into impact in Europe in 2004.

The German authorities has now launched an initiative to switch its present National Port Concept, legitimate till 2025, with a brand new safety protocol known as National Port Strategy.  German Transport Minister Volker Wissing says the brand new port technique is meant to be a “guidebook comprising about 140 concrete measures to address the ports’ most pressing challenges.”

Comprehensive technique essential for the economic system

Germany’s Transport Ministry, which can also be accountable for nationwide digitalization, stated on its web site that ports are “sustainable hubs of the energy transition” and essential “training and employment centers” on which greater than 5 million jobs rely. Their competitiveness have to be ensured, their “digital, automated, and innovative” capabilities strengthened, and so they have to be geared up with “state-of-the-art transport and communication infrastructure.”

The ministry plans to determine 5 working teams tasked with growing “guidelines and concrete measures.”

Alice Kehl, communications supervisor at Duisport — the operator of Germany’s largest inland port in Duisburg — praises the federal government for devising a brand new port safety plan. She advised DW that it could not solely handle the present challenges, but additionally “improve the competitiveness of German ports” which was most of the time “hampered by excessive bureaucratic hurdles that stifle growth.”

Daniel Hosseus, managing director of the Central Association of German Seaport Operators (ZDS), echoed this sentiment telling DW in an announcement that the deliberate measures are “largely sensible and align with our own proposals.”

For Duisport’s Kehl, the technique would for the primary time acknowledge the important position of Germany’s inland ports for the nation’s industrial provide chains.

Duisburg’s strategic location on the western terminus of China’s New Silk Road, she stated, would underscore its significance as a gateway to European markets. This positioning additional highlights the interconnectedness of world commerce and the pivotal position ports play in facilitating worldwide commerce.

Balancing safety and effectivity

While safety stays a prime precedence, business stakeholders emphasize the necessity to keep away from extreme paperwork.

Companies already make investments “significantly in security measures,” stated Hosseus, and cautioned in opposition to creating pointless limitations that might impede operational effectivity. “We should avoid creating a false sense of security with excessive bureaucracy.”

Even earlier than the port technique is finalized, the ZDS official sees a serious shortcoming within the new technique: funding.

“The government currently only provides €38 million ($41 million) for the maintenance and expansion of all German ports — only 38 million,” Hosseus stated. He known as on Berlin to “become more involved” in funding the deliberate measures.

Alice Kehl additionally laments the federal government’s obvious unwillingness to fund its personal safety technique for the ports. Strengthening port safety can be within the curiosity of Germany as a world participant in worldwide commerce, which might be the “ultimate goal of the port strategy,” she stated.

This article was initially written in German.