Germany as a high-tech location for maritime technologies

The Federal Government intends to make Germany a maritime high-tech location and support further developments and progress under its "Shipping and Marine Technology in the 21st Century" research programme.

The aim of the BMWi programme is, among others, to increase the energy efficiency of ships, make the series production of ships more flexible and develop new transhipment technologies. Companies and institutions of higher education or research institutions are cooperating in collaborative projects, which are mainly industry-led, and pursuing common objectives.

Maritime energy generation

The industrial development of the sea includes the extraction and processing of raw materials (marine mining) and of fossil and regenerative energy. Offshore technology is used for oil and gas production as well as for generating wind, wave and tidal energy. Another field of development is maritime control and safety technology.
The offshore industry is expanding worldwide. Technological solutions for the generation of raw materials and energy at sea are a growth market. The Federal Government is therefore focusing on offshore research with the offshore test field in the North Sea, which is funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).

Marine environmental protection technology

A balanced development of technologies is needed in order to ensure the sustainable use of the oceans and to prevent and combat marine pollution (marine environmental protection technology). Equally important are measuring technologies (hydrography), hydraulic technologies and coastal zone management.

World market in the offshore industry

The development of deep-sea oil and gas fields, the extraction and transport of raw materials in polar waters and the exploitation of mineral resources and gas hydrates rank first in the international offshore market. The German government is working to ensure that Germany's maritime technology industry can establish itself on the global market with new systems solutions at an early stage and can benefit from worldwide growth in the offshore sector.
Water depths of over 1,500 metres mean extreme demands on equipment, systems and services. The beacon project "Integrated Systems for Underwater Production of Hydrocarbons" (ISUP), which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi), is facing this challenge.

Project Example
Methane hydrates from the sea floor - energy sources of the future
The collaborative project "SUGAR - Submarine Gas Hydrate Deposits: Exploration, Exploitation and Transport", which is funded by the BMWi and the BMBF, pursues the aim of developing a safe and eco-friendly procedure which combines undersea methane production with carbon dioxide storage. The Leibniz Institute for Marine Science (IFM-GEOMAR) in Kiel is leading the project.

The successful combination of these two complex research approaches could enable Germany to assume a technological leadership position even though it does not have gas hydrate deposits of its own. Germany could not only make a major contribution to securing energy needs but also to protecting the climate. After all, methane hydrates, which are also called "frozen natural gas" and are found in large deposits under the sea floor, are considered to be the energy sources of the future.