Sea blindness? – Few people realise how much the prosperity of every single European country depends on the sea: the safety of shipping lanes, unrestricted maritime transport around the globe and lawful, uncontested access to marine resources are paramount.
The sea offers a huge potential
How to reconnect nations with their navies by Markus Kafurke, Commander (Germany), Naval Staff, Paris (edt.) The Chiefs of European Navies (CHENS), meeting in Athens on 10 May, endorsed a report entitled “How to reconnect our nations with their navies”, whose objective was to present the framework for a coherent European Sea Vision. The report was drawn up by a multinational CHENS working group on strategic communication chaired by French Navy Commander Philippe Minon. The Rapporteur was Commander Markus Kafurke of Germany, who presents a summary of the report. At present, two thirds of the world’s population live within 80 km of the coast. However, the importance and the influence of the sea for the economy extend far beyond those 80 km.
The sea as a source of prosperity and resources The economies of countries all over the world are tightly interconnected in complex, time-critical ways: containers, and the ships that carry them, are the storage depots and warehouses of today’s businesses; production facilities are moving closer to resources (natural resources or work forces); supply chains
Markus Kafurke German Navy Commander Markus Kafurke, born in 1971 near Frankfurt, Germany, currently works in the plans and policy department of the Naval Staff of the Marine Nationale, Paris. In this capacity he is the main point of contact for the members of the CHENS forum and the Rapporteur for the working group on strategic communication. After joining the German Navy in 1990, he pursued a career in naval aviation as a Lynx helicopter pilot. Before his current posting, he attended the Advanced Staff Training Course (19th graduating class) at the Ecole de Guerre in Paris.
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are getting longer and inventories are getting smaller. Despite all this, productivity is rising and costs are falling, because every part of the production process can take place where conditions are best. All this is held together by affordable and reliable maritime transport! Transport of oil and gas In addition to the goods that are shipped back and forth, one more essential item is required in order to guarantee productivity and development: energy. Oil, gas, coal and uranium, to name just four components, are important resources that are not readily available in every country. This uneven distribution creates a large-scale and complex import and export programme for all sources of energy. Any disturbance of these flows will directly affect energy prices; this happened during the oil crises of 1973 and 1979, when the oil price doubled within a year, a development that would rapidly jeopardise our current standard of living by making heating and transportation more expensive. In the case of oil, providers are limited in number, as well as in their geographic location. Those providers face a huge number of consumers with different demands, sometimes several thousand kilometres away, a challenge that could not be met without reliable maritime transport. What does it take to ensure that maritime transport remains unrestricted and reliable? Renewable energy The sea is a very promising source of renewable energy. The production of electricity at sea is already at an advanced stage thanks to the use of offshore wind turbines secured on the ocean floor. The development of a floating type will reduce the limitations in terms of water depth, allowing wind turbines to
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Maritime Security
