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 inter 
national financial crisis and, connected 
with it, declining economic growth which 
will affect many Industries for years to 
come. Also shipping and the maritime in 
dustry 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 See 
schifffahrt 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 competi 
tion 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 Wlssen- 
schaftsrat (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 threaten 
ing 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 co 
operate 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.