About 67,000 peopleare employed by Germany’s marine equipment and systems providers, rising to about 85,000 if the country’s shipyards are included.

Given that 79% of output is destined for export, and 50% of that outside Europe, the industry is acutely sensitive to the global shipping and offshore markets.

Excluding shipbuilding, industry turnover is expected to amount to EUR 11.5bn ($12.2bn) in 2016 compared with EUR 11.7bn