Shipping foundation raises its funding

At its tenth anniversary, the German shipping foundation Stiftung "Schifffahrtsstandort Deutschland" extended its subsidization scheme and raised the subsidization sums. Newly eligible for grants are electro-technical officer's assistants (ETOA). In addition, shipping companies can also apply online for the grants from now on.

Since 10 years, the German shipping foundation Stiftung "Schifffahrtsstandort Deutschland" has been subsidizing vocational training and professional development of seafarers – from ship's mechanic through to master – on ships flying the German flag or EU flag. The grant money stems from compensation payments that shipping companies have to make to a foundation as compensation for flagged-out German ships if they do not offer training on-board. The amount of compensation is the same as last year and lies between 2,051 Euros and 19,632 Euros per year in relation to the size of the ship (see announcement in the Federal gazette from the end of 2022).

The foundation subsidizes vocational training of:

ship mechanics,
navigational and engineering officer's assistants,
and, for the first time, of electro-technical officer's assistants.

Moreover, the training of officers (including as master) as well as professional development is eligible for funding.

Another improvement is the considerable increase in grant amounts for the vocational training: Ship mechanics and officer's assistants are subsidized with 14,000 Euros per year (previously: 10,500 Euros), training as ships officer or master with 32,000 Euros per year (previously: 24,000 Euros) and in case of unemployment prior to the training even 38,000 Euros per year (previously: 28,500 Euros).

The conditions for funding of vocational training and qualification by the foundation Stiftung "Schifffahrtsstandort Deutschland" are among others:

the headquarters of the company are located in Germany,
the trainee or master/ship's officer is employed by a German employer,
the employer pays contributions to the statutory social security system for the trainee or master/ship's officer,
the trainee or master/ship's officer receives a payment of not less than 850 € per month,
the ship is operating under the German flag (not the official federal or official state flag) or under EU flag or as of now EER-flag.

As of now, applications for subsidization can be completed and submitted digitally. To do so, the foundation kindly requests that you register via e-mail to info@stiftung-schiffffahrtsstandort.de

Further information on the topic as well as links to the postal application can be found under the heading "financial matters".