Maritime Facts & Figures 2018

This year's annual report "Facts & Figures about the maritime dependency of the Federal Republic of Germany" was presented to the public on 07.11.2018 by the Inspector of the German Navy, Vice Admiral Krause, while the the Maritime Convention in Berlin.

With the 31st edition of the annual report, the Merchant Marine Department at the German Naval Command outlines the current conditions for the maritime industry from a national perspective and provides a holistic overview of the global maritime threat situation as well as emerging risk areas with the first chapter "Maritime Security".

Alongside with new threats from military conflicts, such as the possible mine threat off the Yemen's coast, the peril of maritime piracy is still a consistent problem on the shipping routes near Africa, South-East Asia, but also South America. Eminently to mention is the persistently high number of abducted crew members from ships in transit through the Gulf of Guinea, as well as the still occasionally place taking attacks by pirates on merchant ships near the Horn of Africa.

For the reporting period, the document highlights, that especially shipping companies from Singapore, Denmark and Germany had been affected by piracy related acts. As a logical consequence, the affected "[...] shipping companies continue to rely on the embarkation of Privately Contracted Armed Security Teams (PCAST) in high-risk shipping areas."

The report also contains further information on maritime security management and digitization and can be downloaded free of charge from the website of there German Navy (in German language):

31st Annual Report "Facts & Figures on Germany's Maritime Dependence"