Every summer, the Maritimes Hauptstadtforum (MHF) organises a multi-day study trip for parliamentary staff working on transport and maritime policy and for the politicians themselves. The idea is straightforward: get decision-makers out of meeting rooms and onto the water. This year, FAIRPLAY TOWAGE Group was part of it.
50 guests on board FAIRPLAY-87
On 13 July, participants of the 9th Maritime Study Trip gathered at the EUROGATE Container Terminal in Hamburg for a harbour trip on board FAIRPLAY-87, the newest tug in our fleet. Fifty guests boarded for the journey to the Landungsbrücken, among them three Members of the German Bundestag: Lars Rohwer (CDU), Dunja Kreiser (SPD) and Linda Heitmann (Grüne), as well as their parliamentary advisors who work on transport and maritime policy.
The study trip is organised jointly by the Verband Deutscher Reeder (VDR) and the Verband Schiffbau und Meerestechnik (VSM). Its purpose is to give Bundestag members and their staff a firsthand look at what the maritime sector actually does, what it needs, and what the daily realities of port and shipping operations look like.
What the conversation covered
Managing Director Holger Schwesig and Director Fleet-Management Wulf Resenhoeft represented FAIRPLAY on board. During the trip, Wulf gave the group a frank overview of the challenges facing the towage industry: regulatory pressure, the practical demands of keeping ports running around the clock, and what fleet modernisation means in concrete terms for a company operating across 24 European ports.
The guests also got a closer look at FAIRPLAY-87 itself and a perspective on the Port of Hamburg that is hard to get from land. From a working tugboat in the middle of the harbour, the scale and complexity of port operations becomes tangible in a way that briefing documents cannot replicate.
Why this kind of exchange matters
Maritime towage sits at the intersection of port operations, safety and national infrastructure. It is largely invisible to the public and often to policymakers as well. The MHF study trip puts the industry in direct contact with the people who shape the regulatory and political environment it operates in.
We appreciate the opportunity to contribute to that conversation and thank VDR and VSM for including us in this year’s programme.
