Podcast: Schoenrock Hydraulik eyes U.S. shipbuilding market

Schoenrock Hydraulik Marine Ssystems Managing Director Dr. Volker Behrens

DECEMBER 27, 2017—Despite the overall slump in global shipbuilding, German shipbuilders were able to maintain a strong orderbook in 2017, driven by a buoyant cruise ship sector and Navy vessel construction. The value of vessel orders in Europe reached EURO 48 billion in June 2017, with German shipyards accounting for about one third of the value, according to Verband fur Schiffbau und Meerestecknik e.V., the German Shipbuilding and Ocean Industries Association.

German marine suppliers have always prospered based on their ability to offer outstanding technical solutions at attractive prices. That certainly has been the philosophy of Schoenrock Hydraulik Marine Systems GmbH. Located just outside of Hamburg, Germany, Schoenrock Hydraulik Marine Systems GmbH is a leading supplier of watertight sliding doors, shell doors, and ventilation dampers. It not only supplies its specialized equipment to German shipyards, but also to shipyards worldwide, including Italy’s Fincantieri, Singapore’s Keppel FELS, France’s STX France, and China’s Yangzijiang.

Since 2003, Schoenrock has been growing under the ownership of Norway’s IMS Group as a producer of sliding door systems as a standard product and tailor-made shell doors and hatches up to 12m x 6 m.

As a result of that growth, the company is now relocating to a larger production facility that will open in the summer of 2018 in Northern Germany.

Marine Log recently sat down with Schoenrock Hydraulik Marine Systems Managing Director Dr. Volker Behrens at India House in New York, NY, to discuss the company’s success and its plans to expand its business in the U.S. marine market.