Generaldirektion Wasserstraßen und Schifffahrt
Abteilung Schifffahrt
Am Propsthof 51
53121 Bonn
Phone: +49 228 70 90 - 0
Fax: +49 228 70 90 - 90 10
Mail: gdws@wsv.bund.de
Brigitte Stoll
Phone: +49 228 70 90 28 20
Mail: brigitte.stoll@wsv.bund.de
Undine Meyer zur Heyde
Phone: +49 228 70 90 43 00
Mail: undine.meyer-zur-heyde@wsv.bund.de
Abteilung Schifffahrt
Am Propsthof 51
53121 Bonn
Phone: +49 228 70 90 - 0
Fax: +49 228 70 90 - 90 10
Mail: gdws@wsv.bund.de
Brigitte Stoll
Phone: +49 228 70 90 28 20
Mail: brigitte.stoll@wsv.bund.de
Undine Meyer zur Heyde
Phone: +49 228 70 90 43 00
Mail: undine.meyer-zur-heyde@wsv.bund.de
Cabotage
No cabotage approvals required anymore
Up until 14 December 2024, shipping companies that
- carried goods or persons
- for a fee
- with ships flying a non-EU flag (except Norway)
- from one place to another in German territory traveling in coastal waters (12 nm area)
required a cabotage approval from Generaldirektion Wasserstraßen und Schifffahrt (GDWS) in Bonn. This provision - and thus the requirement for shipping companies to apply for cabotage - has become void with the "Bürokratieentlastungsverordnung" (bureaucracy relief ordinance) that entered into force on 14 December 2024. This amendment repeals the previous "Verordnung über die Küstenschifffahrt" (KüSchV).
