Industry development in Germany

The initially small outfitting companies developed over time into often significant companies, some with over 100 employees and storage space of several thousand square metres.

The increasing expansion of business made it increasingly difficult for the smaller companies to maintain a sufficiently large warehouse. As a result, the importance of the wholesale supply trade, in which Hamburg held a dominant position, became more and more apparent in the marine equipment sector. The outfitting companies based in the seaports of Wilhelmshaven, Emden, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Kiel, Rostock etc. could only survive in competition with the major ports if they were able to offer their customers the same product collections as their colleagues there. With the help of the predominantly Hamburg-based wholesale trade, a considerable international market position for German ship equipment was created in this way.

The reconstruction of the ship chandleries in the post-war period was initially slow. It was only after the currency reform and with the renewed increase in foreign shipping traffic in German harbours and the rebuilding of our merchant fleet that the outfitting business also picked up again in Germany in the 1950s.

Gradually, the lost market position had to be regained from the neighbouring competing maritime nations. Fortunately, German equipment was able to further consolidate its market position and keep pace with the rapid growth and advancing mechanization of the world merchant fleet.

After German reunification, private ship chandlers were also re-established in eastern Germany and are now successfully participating in the market.

Today, there are around 150 ship chandlers in German harbours that supply ships with provisions, luxury goods and all technical items and spare parts. These are mainly medium-sized companies with 10 to 30 employees, but the largest have well over 100 employees.

Some of these companies are so-called general chandlers, supplying all the goods required by the shipping industry; some have over 20,000 items in their range and have several thousand square metres of storage space as well as an extensive fleet of vehicles.

Other outfitting companies specialize in individual product groups, e.g. dry provisions, meat and sausage products, luxury foods or deck and engine equipment, wire ropes and cordage, nautical articles, distress equipment or other items.

In addition to the general and specialized suppliers who deliver directly to ships, there are special suppliers for electrical goods, luxury foods and provisions.

As international shipping has always enjoyed the privilege of using and consuming duty-free and untaxed goods at sea, ship chandlers trade to a considerable extent in duty-free foreign and excise-free EU goods and are therefore under constant scrutiny by the customs authorities.

According to the customs regulations applicable in Germany, ships may only purchase duty-free goods for voyages on which they leave the German coastal area.

The ship chandlers' warehouses are located either in free ports or as customs warehouses in the customs territory. There are only a few free ports left in Germany; these are areas demarcated by a high fence in which goods can be transported without direct customs supervision. Only the entry and exit of goods via the free port border is monitored by customs.

Consumption of uncleared or untaxed goods is strictly prohibited in all outfitter warehouses and also in the free port. Each individual consignment of goods is precisely recorded on a card at the time of storage; their proper delivery only to authorized ships is carefully monitored by the customs administration in order to prevent misuse.

Due to the high customs and tax differentials for many goods, the staff at chandlery companies must be particularly trustworthy.

Many German outfitting companies have fixed supply contracts with German and foreign shipping companies and must supply their ships in all international harbours in some cases. In addition to land and water vehicles for local transport, heavy lorries and thermo trucks for refrigerated and frozen goods are therefore often used by larger companies. German ship chandlers deliver worldwide.

International development of the industry

The Shipsupply industry as a special branch of the economy has only developed in the last 200 years with the expansion of international shipping. At the time of sailing ships, which were often moored in harbours for months at a time, there was naturally no need for a branch of business specializing in the prompt supply of ships. It was only with the spread of mechanized ship propulsion, the advent of steam, motor and turbine ships and the ever shorter loading and unloading times, as well as the increasing size of ships, that these conditions changed.

With the intensification of maritime transport in the 19th century, the need to equip ships in the harbour also increased; one or a few reliable companies had to be entrusted with the procurement of all the necessary goods. This was the birth of the ship chandler. Today, maritime shipping would be unthinkable without them.

The reconstruction of the ship chandleries in the post-war period was initially slow. It was only after the currency reform and with the renewed increase in foreign shipping traffic in German harbours and the rebuilding of our merchant fleet that the outfitting business also picked up again in Germany in the 1950s.

Gradually, the lost market position had to be regained from the neighbouring competing maritime nations. Fortunately, German equipment was able to further consolidate its market position and keep pace with the rapid growth and advancing mechanization of the world merchant fleet.

After German reunification, private ship chandlers were also re-established in eastern Germany and are now successfully participating in the market.