Tug war

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Dutch (red hull) and German tugs at Neumühlen berth , Port of Hamburg 2009

A conflict between German and Dutch tugboat companies that began in 1996 and calmed down in 2002 by a decision of the EU Commission was described as a tug war .

Beginning

Since 1996, the Netherlands has given smugglers tax breaks with the aim of making them competitive with flags of convenience in international waters. The EU Commission had approved this procedure. Strengthened by this, Dutch shipping companies also parked their tugs in German North Sea ports and triggered a price war in which German shipping companies could not survive without comparable subsidies. This called into question the collective agreements applicable to all industries represented in a port and thus also created unrest among dock workers outside of the tugboat companies.

Climax

As a result, there were confrontations. The highlight was that a Mærsk-Line freighter in a Dutch tug was blocked by German tugs in Hamburg and was only able to leave with a long delay and incompletely loaded due to a slow strike by solidarity dock workers. In addition, Hamburg shipping companies for their part parked tugs at Europoort in 1999 and thus achieved falling prices and a reduction in workforce there too.

settlement

Since the tugs in question were not used in international maritime traffic, but in another EU country, the EU Commission reversed its decision in 2002 and ordered the repayment of the aid granted, which led to a noticeable relaxation.

literature

  • Jan Mordhorst: Tug. Use in port and on the high seas. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-7822-0974-8

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jan Mordhorst: Tug. Use in port and on the high seas. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 2008, pp. 108–127
  2. ↑ a b c http://www.abendblatt.de/daten/2002/06/20/37659.html
  3. ↑  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.kloenschnack.de
  4. ↑ http://www.arbeiterpolitik.de/Zeitungen/PDF/1996/arpo-3-1996.pdf
  5. ↑ https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article433201/Konkurrenten-beenden-den-Schlepperkrieg.html
  6. ↑ http://www.oeko-net.de/Kommune/kommune9-98/kolecka9.htm
  7. ↑  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.verdi.de