Becker Marine Systems is a German manufacturer of ship and

marine technology Marine technology is defined bWEGEMT(a European association of 40 universities in 17 countries) as "technologies for the safe use, exploitation, protection of, and intervention in, the marine environment." In this regard, according to WEGEMT, th ...

based in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

. The company develops and produces manoeuvring and monitoring systems.

History

The company was founded in 1946 by Willi Becker in Hamburg. In its first years, Becker Marine Systems was active in developing rudders. The Becker Rudder was introduced in the 1950s and improved ship manoeuvrability. With the development of the Becker Flap Rudder, a fin-type rudder with a potential angle of deflection up to 100 degrees, the company expanded its services to larger vessels by adapting the rudder design to meet the requirements of bigger ships. With the 1972 acquisition of Kort Engineering, Becker entered the market for specialised nozzles and rudders. In the following years, Becker opened its own offices in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

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, and

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. This expansion led to major contracts, such as the production of rudders for six large container ships from STX in 2009. During this period, the company's management underwent changes which resulted in an increased revenue from around €25 million in 2006 to approximately €100 million in 2009. Also in 2009, Becker launched the Becker Mewis Duct, a device that improves the inflow to propellers. The engineers of the device, Mewis and Lehmann, were later awarded the

German Environmental Prize The German Environmental Prize () is a government-sponsored award for protecting the environment. Worth Euro, €500,000, it is one of the most valuable environmental awards in Europe. The sponsor German Federal Environmental Foundation (, DBU) i ...

for their invention. In 2015, Becker began operations in the United States, followed by a contract from the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

to equip 17 new tankers with rudders in 2017. The same year, Becker began a collaboration in Japan with local companies for the construction of rudders for container ships.

Takeover by Nakashima Propeller

In April 2021, the Japanese company Nakashima Propeller Co. Ltd. acquired a majority stake in Becker Marine Systems. Nakashima had previously been a partner of Becker Marine Systems since 1978. Becker Marine Systems remained unchanged in its structure, including its management.

Corporate structure

Becker Marine Systems GmbH is headquartered in Hamburg and is part of Nakashima Europe (Germany) GmbH. Their ultimate parent company is Nakashima Propeller Co. Ltd., based in

Okayama is the prefectural capital, capital Cities of Japan, city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The Okayama metropolitan area, centered around the city, has the largest urban employment zone in the Chugoku region of western J ...

, Japan. In the 2023 financial year, the company generated sales of €168.6 million and employed an average of 114 employees in Germany. Globally, Becker employs over 200 people. Its key markets are Asia, Europe, and North America, with the majority of its 2023 revenue generated in Asia. In addition to its headquarters in Hamburg, Becker Marine Systems operates several subsidiaries in China (

Zhenjiang Zhenjiang, alternately romanized as Chinkiang, is a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province, China. It lies on the southern bank of the Yangtze River near its intersection with the Grand Canal. It is opposite Yangzhou (to its north) and ...

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

, and

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Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

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Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

), and the

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Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

References

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External links

Official Website
Marine engineering Marine engineering companies Companies established in 1946 Companies established in 1946 by country Manufacturing companies based in Hamburg