• The Wilhelmshaven Process

Mutual recognition is getting closer  

by Mr. Ole Vistrup 

On 24 May 2000 representatives of the European national maritime administrations were gathered in London for meetings in the IMO.

EMH took the opportunity to invite these representatives for an unformal talk on board the »Lilian of Stockholm« - a classic gentleman’s yacht from 1916 flying the Red Ensign - kindly made available by the owners Scott and Hilary Pereira. By their assistance on board volunteers from Heritage Afloat contributed to the success of the meeting. 

To the representatives of the maritime administrations of Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, the United States, and a representative for the EU DG-VII, Dr. Dietrich Steinicke (German Ministry of Transport) introduced the idea of a Europe wide mutual recognition of national rules and regulations for traditional ships.

In his introduction Dr. Steinicke said that all countries have their own approach to safety on board traditional ships, and that this fact often confuses national port state control authorities at international festivals for traditional ships. 

Furthermore Dr. Steinicke pointed out that trying to include traditional ships within the rules of the SOLAS and STCW conventions would mean the immediate end to the preservation of the maritime heritage.

Instead, Dr. Steinicke suggested, the involved countries should mutually recognize each others national rules and national certificates through signing a memorandum of understanding. 

• A closer look at Lilian of Stockholm

»Lilian of Stockholm« was designed by the famous Swedish designer, C G Pettersson. Launched in Stockholm as »Lilian II«, she was the largest motor yacht that had been built at that time in Sweden. She was built for Emil R Glückstadt of Copenhagen, who ran the Danish Agricultural Bank which collapsed in scandal in 1923. After various changes of ownership, including a period in Kingston upon Thames under the name »Dahu«, she eventually became »Training Ship Windsor Castle« and was used by the sea cadets in Windsor.

When purchased by the present owners - Scott and Hilary Pereira - in 1980 she was in a very poor state, with leaking decks, severe corrosion to the hull, and rot and damage to the interior. However, as a consequence of having been out of active commission for many years and not having been “updated”, she still retained many original features, including the engines. She has been extensively restored over the last 17 years, without public funding. In 1988, fifty years to the day since her last sea journey in 1938, she ventured back to sea.

Renamed »Lilian«, she is now an unique example of an early gentleman’s motor yacht, and it is believed that the 75 hp Polar Atlas diesels are the oldest marine engines (with prototype gearboxes) still working. As much as possible of the original has been retained in order to recreate the ambience of an earlier era, and she is definitely a restoration not a replica. A private non-charter vessel used as a residence at Twickenham, she often cruises to classic boat rallies in the summer. In 1995 she returned to Stockholm for the first time since her launch. As for much of the restoration that preceeded it, the owners were assisted by family and friends, nursing engines and ship for the 2500 mile return journey. That she could undertake such a journey after nearly 80 years is a real tribute to Swedish design and engineering. 

LILIAN OF STOCKHOLM 1916  

Designed C G Pettersson: bulit Södra Varvet, Stockholm, Sweden. Gentleman’s twin screw diesel yacht. 30 metres (100 feet) long, 5 metres (16 feet) wide, 2 metres (6 feet) draught. Schooner rigged with gaff steadying sails. Powered by original (1915) 2 x 75 hp 6 cylinder Polar Atlas diesels. Home mooring: Twickenham (Thames). Owners: Scott & Hilary Pereira.

• Marketing ideas for the use of traditional ships in tourism 

by Ms. Claudia Stahmer

with an introducing remark by Dr. Ingo Heidbrink 

Although traditional ships primarily are a part of common maritime heritage they are also a part of the tourism industry. This double purpose is one of the most complicated demands in operating traditional ships. The requirements of preservation as floating monuments were scientifically described in the last years but the requirements of the tourism industry depends often on conjectures. So it was highly welcome when Claudia Stahmer asked the German Maritime Museum for some support for her dissertation which tries to analyse this aspect of operating traditional ships in the German part of the Baltic Sea by the point of view of tourism research. Her results clearly shows that there is a great chance for traditional ships in the tourism industry. But they also make clear that it is necessary to make some changes in marketing and products for the visitors. Her research depended on traditional ships in Mecklenburg - West Pomerania but it should be permissible to generalise them for our whole European maritime heritage.There are great differences between historic ships mainly used for tourism and ships which may be called real museum ships. It is quite necessary to see these different aims and efforts but why should we not learn by each other ?

Ingo Heidbrink 

Concerning the marketing of traditional ships used in tourism an analysis of the chances of development of traditional ships has shown, that it is first of all necessary to define different kinds of products. It is not possible to give general statements that are valid for all kinds of use of traditional ships in tourism. The variations differ too much concerning the length of the trips (some hours to some weeks), the types and the equipment of the ships and the guests. 

One main type of trips on offer are trips during events, e.g. during the “Hanse Sail” in Rostock. They are very successful. An other type is one-day-excursions, which are soughed-after by tourists in the regions. But the main field in the use of traditional ships in tourism are trips, which last some days or sometimes even some weeks. For this reason some details of this field are given in the following. 

Marketing improvements for this type are necessary, because these ships are rarely fully booked. For giving detailed information two groups have to be considered: ships with an equipment on a high standard and ships with an equipment on a low standard.  

The low standard ships are often booked by groups of young people, like pupils or students. A lot of them are interested in sailing and living on the ship during the whole trip. But there are also groups that prefer, especially in the evenings, having fun in a harbour town and sleeping long in the mornings. This type of trip is not very often found on the offer by German shipowners. Also trips combined with cultural and ecological themes could be given more attention, e.g. trips to harbour parties, school exchanges with other countries along the coast and animal studies.  

A new target group for these kind of trips could be the group of families with children. Special programmes for children without their parents, so that the parents have some time on their own combined with programmes for the whole family could be quite successful. An other possibility is the combination with other sports e.g. bicycling. If the ship berth in a harbour the guests have the chance to explore a town or an island by bike. The tourists like to have diversifications on their holidays.  

The most important thing after the creation of new offers is to communicate about them. Due to the situation, that there are many ship owners with only a small offer, it could be helpful to built a cooperation to organise communication together. This could increase bookings without increasing the expenses for each ship owner. Special offers for target groups should be specially communicated. If the target group are pupils and students, schools and universities should be informed about the offer. Especially for this target group it is indispensable to present all trips on offer in the internet. A ‘young and modern’ presentation would be very helpful indeed. 

Concerning the high standard ships other target groups are in the focus. Trips on these kind of ships are often more expensive, so it is necessary to recruit people with a high income, and here especially the group “50+”. People of an age of 50 years and more is a group that has a high growth rate compared to other population groups. And the main point is, that they often have a high income at their disposal. So the question is: How can we get them on our boats to get a part of their income? First of all they all like to have it comfortable: double cabins with shower should be standard, also the catering should be on a high level. An other characteristic of this group is an education level above average. Therefore offers with cultural parts are important. An example: a trip from one Hanse town (Rostock) to another Hanse town (Lübeck) to visit buildings of gothic brick style.  

An other interesting target group for the ships with a high standard of equipment are enterprises. They use trips on traditional ships to improve their image. This is possible with clients as well as with staff members. Another possibility is running seminars on board of the ships. A ship is especially suited for improvements of group dynamics.

Both target groups have the advantage, that they are not fixed on school holidays, they are target groups for the whole sailing season in Germany.  

This is only a small selection of the possibilities shipowners have to improve their booking rates. The mentioned marketing ideas are part of a dissertation, that analysed the development of traditional shipping for tourism in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. One part of the dissertation was a market research. The result shows a good chance for the use of traditional ships in tourism in the Baltic Sea, especially for trips with a duration of some days to some weeks.  

The dissertation was written in connection with a report about the ‘maritime tourism in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’ on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The dissertation was coached by the University Harz and the dwif-Büro Berlin (Deutsches Wirtschafts-wissenschaftliches Institut für Fremdenverkehr e.V. an der Universität München).

Claudia Stahmer

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EMH Newsletter nr 5