display
Hamburg (dpa / lno) - The German government's maritime coordinator, Norbert Brackmann, has called for more investment in maritime security in view of the corona pandemic and the recent blockade of the Suez Canal.
"As before, the maritime security in this country receives too little attention in my eyes," said the CDU politician on Thursday at an online event of the German Maritime Center in Hamburg.
Functioning, well-developed ports, maritime infrastructure, safe sea routes and supply chains are not a matter of course.
“That's why we have to invest in them,” said Brackmann.
He also referred to the corona pandemic, which had shown how much Germany is dependent on functioning supply chains.
The export volume of Germany shipped by sea has quintupled in the past 50 years and the import volume has doubled, stressed Brackmann.
“The maritime economy is a key pillar of the German economy.
It guarantees over 90 percent of German exports by sea, generates over 40 billion euros and secures a total of more than 400,000 jobs in Germany, ”said Brackmann.
But "only when there are disruptions does the whole world look," he said, referring to the recent blockade of the Suez Canal by the 400-meter-long container ship "Ever Given".
display
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210408-99-126818 / 2