7

PREFACE
Change  and  transformation  -  these  are
the  terms  characterising  the  year  2008,
not  only  at  the  BSH.  It  is  a  year  that  will
be  remembered  particularly  for  the  international ­
  financial  crisis  and,  connected
with  it,  declining  economic  growth  which
will  affect  many  Industries  for  years  to
come.  Also  shipping  and  the  maritime  industry ­
  have  been  facing  major  changes.
2008  will  also  be  remembered  as  the  year
In  which  climate  change  became  a  widely
acknowledged  fact.  For  the  first  time  since
the  beginning  of  records,  both  the  east
and  west  passages  of  the  Arctic  were
navigable  at  the  same  time,  and  the  Baltic
Sea  had  less  Ice  than  ever  before  In  the
past  300  years.  Bundesamt  für  Seeschifffahrt ­
  und  Hydrographie
(BSH,  Federal  Maritime  and  Hydrographie
Agency  of  Germany)  Is  the  national
maritime  agency  which,  In  co-operation
with  other  agencies  and  research
Institutions,  is  providing  support  to  the
shipping  and  maritime  Industries  and  to
political  Institutions  in  the  development  of
suitable  strategies  enabling  them  to  cope
with  possible  impacts  of  climate  change
on  the  oceans  and  shipping.
The  year  2008  also  marked  a  complete
management  change  at  the  BSH.
Prof.  Dr.  Ehlers,  the  agency’s  President
for  over  twenty  years  who  had  played  a
key  role  in  shaping  the  agency,  retired  in
2008.  At  the  same  time,  all  Heads  of
Department  retired  or  left  -  marking  a

generational  change  and  the  assumption
of  new  tasks.  A  near  complete  change  in
the  agency’s  management-this  presents
a  challenge  to  all  Involved.  But  changes
also  are  opportunities.  Our  goal  is  to
make  the  BSH  fit  for  the  challenges  of  the
next  ten  to  twenty  years  -  In  a  joint  effort
Involving  all  our  highly  motivated
employees.  In  times  of  severe  competition ­
  for  human  and  financial  resources,  in
which  Increasingly  severe  safety  and
environmental  protection  requirements
have  to  be  met,  this  is  not  going  to  be  an
easy  task.
The  German  Government’s  Wlssenschaftsrat
  (German  Council  of  Science
and  Humanities),  in  Its  report  on  the  BSH
as  a  governmental  research  agency,  gave
a  positive  evaluation  of  its  efficiency,
International  competitiveness,  and  future
development  potential.  At  the  same  time,
however,  It  clearly  warned  of  a  threatening ­
  loss  of  scientific  expertise  due  to  an
ongoing  cutback  In  personnel.
We  do  take  this  warning  very  seriously.
Therefore,  it  Is  one  of  our  goals  to
strengthen  our  scientific  basis  and  cooperate ­
  even  more  closely  with  research
Institutions.  We  will  use  scientific  findings
to  maintain  and  Improve  the  quality  of  our
products  and  services  and  will,  in
return,  provide  science  with  reliable  data
and  Information  about  any  changes
observed  in  the  maritime  environment.
We  will  continue  doing  so  in  the  future.