The propulsion specialist SCHOTTEL remains on course for success, rounding off the year 2004 with another sales record. The corporate goal of €100 million in group sales for the new building and service sectors was achieved (2003: €90 million). Exports accounted again for about 80%. Of particular significance are the latest worldwide sales successes in the areas of tug propulsion systems, offshore supply vessels and tankers, research vessels, ferries and military vessels. More and more SCHOTTEL propulsion and manoeuvring systems are also being successfully implemented in the megayacht sector. Also contributing to the good overall results is our Service department, with a large number of conversions and modernizations of existing systems.
The extremely satisfactory volume of incoming orders in the last 12 months means a further increase in orders on hand for the year 2005. Although the weakness of the US dollar, together with an explosion in steel prices, have created extremely difficult conditions, the company, with its 600 employees worldwide (of which 500 are in Germany), would like to achieve not only a further increase in sales, but also good net earnings.
In 2005 the number of tugs benefiting from the propulsion and outstanding manoeuvring characteristics provided by SCHOTTEL will significantly exceed 600. It was in 1967 that the first “workhorse” equipped with rudderpropellers was put into operation in Hamburg Harbour, thus marking the beginning of an impressive success story with ever-increasing power ratings and bollard pulls. In 2004 we successfully landed orders for the propulsion systems of about 75 tugs, i.e. about 150 rudderpropellers in the power range from 500kW to 3,850kW with fixed or controllable-pitch propellers. On top of this come propulsion systems for about another 15 vessels being built for the offshore industry.
Because of the expansion of the traditional SCHOTTEL product range to include electric propulsion systems in the megawatt range and advanced controllable-pitch propeller systems, the importance of SCHOTTEL’s plant in Wismar, Germany is increasing. Propulsion systems with power ratings of well over 2,000kW per unit, as well as both mechanical and diesel-electric pod drives, are built there by SCHOTTEL-Antriebstechnik GmbH. Its sister company SCHOTTEL-Schiffsmaschinen GmbH has developed and built controllable-pitch propeller systems for vessels such as offshore supply vessels, ferries and container ships. The 25MW systems for two fast container ships demonstrate impressively how in this field, too, the SCHOTTEL team is well-equipped to meet the growing requirements of the global market.
This positive development is also reflected in the number of people employed. Since the beginning of our activities in Wismar and the founding of SCHOTTEL-Schiffsmaschinen GmbH in the autumn of 1998 with 51 employees, SCHOTTEL has more than doubled – to over 122 – the number of jobs at its Baltic Sea location, while also creating, and securing the future of ten places for job trainees. Thanks to a good situation with regard to orders, the number of employees is likely to increase to about 150 in 2005.
In addition to its production plants in Spay, Wismar, and in China, and a service branch in Hamburg, the SCHOTTEL group also has subsidiaries in the Netherlands, France, Italy, the United States and Brazil, as well as representatives in all major shipping centres. A local presence and quick service are thus ensured.