Amid subsidies and protectionism from Asian rivals and “fantasy prices” offered by Chinese yards, European shipbuilders must stand firm and work together to protect their high tech expertise, Germany’s shipbuilding association, VSM, stated in a release today.
German yards have attacked Asian rivals for a long time over how they’ve been propped by governments with VSM hinting in the past it would be happy to see the matter in front of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
VSM executives today made some of their most blunt comments on the topic with chief executive Dr Reinhard Lüken describing the contracts Chinese yards are agreeing to as “fantasy prices”.
“For decades, we have been experiencing such market distortions without antidotes. That has to change,” Lüken commented.
“Germany wants a strong maritime industry and is prepared to fight for it together with its European partners,” added VSM president Harald Fassmer.
