The German Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME;

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Havariekommando'') is the authority for mutual maritime emergency management in the German EEZ of

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

and in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. The federal office provides radar and air surveillance,

piloting Piloting or pilotage is the process of navigating on water or in the air using fixed points of reference on the sea or on land, usually with reference to a nautical chart or aeronautical chart to obtain a fix of the position of the vessel or air ...

and emergency tugs for ships that are unable to manoeuvre. Head of CCME is

Frigate captain Frigate captain is a naval rank in the naval forces of several countries. Corvette captain lies one level below frigate captain. It is usually equivalent to the Commonwealth/US Navy rank of commander. Countries using this rank include Argenti ...

Robby Renner.

History

By law the German states

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

, Hanseatic City of Bremen, Hanseatic City of Hamburg,

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

and Mecklenburg Vorpommern are responsible for maritime emergency response in their coastal waters. Federal agencies such as the Federal Coast Guard are responsible for certain tasks. The large number of organizations and authorities led to a great need for coordination. The process of German maritime rescue and relief operations has often been criticized as dangerously bureaucratic, too slow and uncoordinated. On October 25, 1998, the Cargo ship M/V Pallas, cargo of lumber caught fire while traveling the

off the west coast of

Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...

. Several attempts to get the ship under tow were unsuccessful, and it ran aground four days later off the German island of

Amrum Amrum (; Öömrang, ''Öömrang'' North Frisian: ''Oomram'') is one of the North Frisian Islands on the Germany, German North Sea coast, south of Sylt and west of Föhr. It is part of the Nordfriesland district in the federal state of Schleswig-H ...

, in the

Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park The Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park () is a national park in the Schleswig-Holstein area of the German Wadden Sea. It was founded by the Parliament of Schleswig-Holstein on 1 October 1985 by the National Park Act of 22 July 1985 and ...

. 250 tons of

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil (bunker fuel), marine f ...

were lost overboard, causing the biggest

oil spill An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...

in German history, killing approximately 16.000 sea birds, predominantly

common eider The common eider (pronounced ) (''Somateria mollissima''), also called St. Cuthbert's duck or Cuddy's duck, is a large ( in body length) sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breed ...

s. The case led to political discontent over a lack of coordinated emergency tow capabilities on the German coast, and contributed to the creation CCME. The Federal Coastal States and the Federal Government authorities founded CCME. On January 1, 2003, the Central Command for Maritime Emergencies (CCME) (in German: Havariekommando) commenced operations. It was established to set up and carry out a mutual maritime emergency management in the North Sea and in the Baltic Sea. It is based in Cuxhaven (Northwest Germany) and is headed by a federal official.

Operation

The ''Maritime Emergencies Reporting and Assessment Centre ''is the 24/7 central point of contact for emergencies. In the event of an accident, it is usually necessary to rescue people, which is coordinated by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre Bremen (MRCC) of the

German Sea Rescue Society The German Maritime Search and Rescue Service ( - DGzRS, ; lit. ''German Society for the Rescue of Shipwrecked Persons'') is a membership organisation in Germany. It is responsible for Search and Rescue in German territorial waters in the North S ...

(DGzRS). The havariekommando is in charge of the German

ETV ETV may stand for: Television * Educational television, the use of television in education * Enhanced TV, an interactive television application specification Africa * e.tv, South Africa * ETV (Ethiopia), Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation * ETV G ...

fleet. During daily work routine the CCME consists of about 40 employees, working in five different sections: * Maritime Emergencies Reporting and Assessment Centre (MERAC) * Marine Pollution Control - High Sea and Salvage Section * Marine Pollution Control - Coastal Section * Fire Fighting, Rescue and Medical Response Section * Public Relations Section

Capacity

One of the main capacities of CCME is a number of

Emergency tow vessel An emergency tow vessel, also called emergency towing vessel, (ETV) is a multi purpose boat used by state authorities to tow disabled vessels on high seas in order to prevent dangers to man and environment. The disabled vessel is either towed to ...

Emergency tow vessel stations

Special ability capacitys

The CCME has access and is in command of units of several organisations with special ability and equipment: * ''DGzRS'' for maritime rescue * ''Fire brigades'', local coastal fire brigades with special ability for maritime fire fighting * ''

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

'', especially

naval aviation Naval aviation / Aeronaval is the application of Military aviation, military air power by Navy, navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. It often involves ''navalised aircraft'', specifically designed for naval use. Seab ...

* ''

German Federal Coast Guard The German Federal Coast Guard () is a civilian law enforcement organisation whose primary missions are border protection, maritime environmental protection, shipping safety, fishery protection and customs enforcement. The ''Küstenwache'' is an ...

'' **

Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

* '' Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) for handling dangerous substances''

References

{{Authority control German federal agencies Water transport in Germany 2003 establishments in Germany Government agencies established in 2003

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is a town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has a footprint o ...

Cuxhaven