The Emder Hafenförderungsgesellschaft e. V. (EHFG) sees the recycling of small and medium-sized ships of 500 to 1,000 tons as an important new mainstay for the port of Emden. This was made clear by Timo Siebahn, Chairman of the EHFG Supervisory Board, at a hearing in the Lower Saxony state parliament. The hearing was based on a motion by the SPD and Bündnis 90/Die Grünen on "Strengthening the maritime economy in Lower Saxony through sustainable recycling". Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

"We at EHFG fully support the plans of EWD Benli Recycling GmbH & Co. KG," Siebahn told the members of the "Ports and Shipping" subcommittee of the state parliament in Hanover. "Anyone who can assemble ships can also disassemble them. The Emden shipbuilders at EWD know exactly where each screw and rivet is located on the ships," Siebahn explained to the members of the state parliament. Anyone who also has the skilled workers and infrastructure of a former large shipyard has excellent conditions for recycling ships.

For the seaport of Emden, the recycling of ships would be a new economic sector that would fit in perfectly with the port's existing range of services and complement them ideally. In addition, the port's connection to the network of inland waterways is well suited to transporting the steel obtained from recycling to the steelworks in Bremen and Salzgitter for further processing in an environmentally friendly manner using inland waterway vessels.

A successful establishment of ship recycling in Emden would also contribute to increasing safety in the German Bight and greatly increase the importance of the port of Emden for emergencies on the high seas. This is because it could be the closest storm-proof location for the repair and dismantling of damaged ships.

In the long term, the port of Emden will also have to recycle up to 1,500 wind turbines and their components, which will soon have reached the end of their service life on the high seas. "The Port of Emden is also well equipped for this," says Siebahn. After all, Emden is an important "offshore gateway" where parts of wind turbines are already being serviced and repaired on the high seas. In addition, many offshore wind farms are serviced from Emden.