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Politicians call on government to save German shipbuilding

Published: 18 Mar 10 08:45 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.de/national/20100318-25949.html

Politicians from Germany’s coastal states on Thursday called on the government to help save the country's shipbuilding industry.

Ahead of a meeting for shipbuilders, Schleswig-Holstein state premier Peter Harry Carstensen told financial daily Handelsblatt that the government needs to step in and help solve problems in the industry.

“I expect that the meeting of the maritime coordinator with the coastal states will bring progress in solving the long-running financial problems in the maritime economy,” he told the paper.

German shipbuilders must be able to “build ships in Germany again,” he added, suggesting aid for work in new technology.

Mecklenburg Western-Pomerania’s state premier Erwin Sellering also said the industry was at a critical point.

Sellering told broadcaster NDR that Chancellor Angela Merkel must make a decision soon to encourage German banks to finance new shipyard projects.

“Otherwise it will be too late for the shipbuilders in northern Germany,” he said.

The global financial crisis has affected shipbuilders around the world, he added, predicting that only 40 to 50 percent would survive.

“But I want the northern German companies to make it,” he told NDR.

DDP/The Local (news@thelocal.de)

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15:50 March 18, 2010 by Henckel
Germany has had a shipbuilding industry since the days of the Saxon sea raiders. It would be sad to see the German companies fold or be taken over by foreign companies -- and it would be disastrous for their workers.
18:01 March 18, 2010 by maxbrando
It is always the same old story for Germans. Save us! What they really mean is save our comfortable lives, high salaries, long vacations, and the welfare state. What spoiled brats.
23:22 March 19, 2010 by peschvogel
I thought exports were roaring from Haburg? That German exports are saving the world? Was passerein? Proof that the German economy and Europe is spirialing into a deflationary depression...
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