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D.Germany is a maritime power in the world economy, albeit almost defenseless. German shipowners operate the largest container fleet in the world with around 1400 ships and have the fourth largest merchant fleet on the world’s oceans with as many as 3200 ships. But compared to that, the chances of protecting these ships from dangers like terror, piracy or military conflict are alarmingly small. 95 percent of Germany’s intercontinental trade, an exporting nation, is transported by sea. In Europe, too, it accounts for nearly 30 percent of all raw materials and goods.
If you look at the presence of the navy in the oceans of the world, you see only a few activities. According to the fleet tracker registered by the Institute for Security Policy of the University of Kiel, there are currently four ships and one Orion maritime patrol aircraft on an international mission. The Hamburg and Brandenburg frigates and the Magdeburg corvette are on the move in the Mediterranean, for example to monitor the arms embargo against Libya. The Sulzbach-Rosenberg anti-gun ship sails the North Sea with a standard NATO partnership. Some ships sail in domestic waters, but currently none outside Europe. Plus it seems almost impossible with the small fleet. At the beginning of the year it consisted of 46 ships and boats, including nine frigates, five corvettes and six submarines. A third of this is in the process of being repaired.
The challenges are quite different, as the annual report on the international situation just released by the Naval Command describes. The number of attacks on merchant ships is still high, with around 162 recorded in 2019. Most of these are currently occurring in the Gulf of Guinea (64), after international anti-pirate protection off the Arabian Peninsula largely brought to calm. Only four attacks were recorded before Somalia. A few years ago there were up to 237 attacks. However, 134 sailors were kidnapped last year and in a number of cases cargo ships were hit during the attacks.
Less stress from migratory movements
Migratory movements across the Mediterranean, where the German Navy is involved in aid and surveillance missions, have dropped dramatically. This is where it has recently been used for surveillance missions in the Aegean Sea and off the coast of Libya. Refugees and migrants are now very often prevented from fleeing by sea, mainly by the Libyan coast guard. But the migratory route through the Aegean islands is also severely limited. While nearly 1.4 million people arrived in Europe by sea in 2015 and 2016, last year the figure was just under 100,000.
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The focus of the Naval Command report, however, is on the development and protection of international merchant shipping. It developed rapidly before the corona pandemic. The number of tankers alone has grown by nearly 2,000 vessels to 8033 since 2015. The dependence of the German economy and society on maritime trade is demonstrated by other figures: German seaports handled 294 million tons of freight , cars, machines, but also televisions, computers and raw materials of all kinds. Germany has exported goods worth 1.32 trillion euros – more than a third goes abroad. In total, approximately 100,000 cargo ships arrived in German ports last year, according to the maritime command record. In addition, around 24,000 passenger ships, namely ferries and cruise ships.
Legal uncertainty in the fight against terrorism in the North Sea
Protecting this traffic would be a task for the navy, although it has not yet been clearly established whether a corvette in the Baltic or North Sea coastal forecourt could repel a terrorist attack, such as a dinghy loaded with explosives entering Elbe. He did not mandate for this, Ludolf von Löwenstein, board member of the “European Strategic Institute” reported, recently in an article for the magazine “MarineForum”. According to the prevailing legal opinion, it is the duty of the police. In addition to the substantial Englishage, there is also legal uncertainty.
Ten years ago, then Federal President Horst Köhler stated in an interview that “a country of our size with this foreign trade orientation and therefore also dependence on foreign trade must know that in case of doubt, in an emergency, it is military action is also needed to protect our interests “. In the storm of red and green indignation that followed, Köhler resigned. Since then the situation has worsened. Beijing’s imperial ambitions, for example, threaten not only American but also European interests. And Germans.
However, when Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (CDU) considered sending a German military ship along the world trade arteries to Asia last year, the SPD was already talking about “gunboat policy” and of “Wilhelminism”. The German navy did not participate in the increased presence in the Strait of Hormuz, despite massive disruptions from Iran. Unlike France or Great Britain and even Denmark.
Many still do not want to know that a country with one of the largest merchant fleets in the world and a global dependence on free maritime trade must protect it. If Chancellor Angela Merkel had promised future US President Joe Biden that Germany would take more responsibility for common values and interests, there would be a sea of possibilities here.
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