German shipyards were building plenty of boxships 15 years ago but, today, they have disappeared from the country’s orderbooks.
To some extent, it was an artificial bubble explained by the fact that yards in lower-cost Asia were full and shipowners, including the newbuilding hungry KG (limited partnership) ventures, were forced to look closer to home to place orders.
Many of those ships were built in eastern Germany at Wismar and Warnemunde but, like elsewhere in the country, they are now dependent on the passengership market.
