For 100 years, Bernhardt Apparatebau in Holm, Schleswig-Holstein, has been developing products that save lives. Today, the family-run business is best known for its Life jackets known for the Secumar brand. Yet it ranks amongst the world’s leading companies in the entire field of maritime safety technology. What began as a small workshop producing diving equipment has, over four generations, developed into a specialist in high demand internationally.
From the copper helmet to maritime safety technology
The foundations were laid by the company’s founder, Karl Bernhardt, who came to Hamburg after serving in the First World War and, as a qualified plumber, founded the company ‘Ingenieur Karl Bernhardt Apparatebau’ in 1926. At that time, Bernhardt developed copper helmets through which divers carrying out underwater work in Hamburg’s port facilities were supplied with breathing air via a hose. In the process, the young company gained technical expertise in the processing of watertight materials and valve design – the foundation for the development of rescue equipment.
Despite the complete destruction of its production facilities during the Second World War, the company then entered its first major phase of growth. This was because the reconstruction of the Port of Hamburg, which had been destroyed by bombing raids, required diving systems that Karl Bernhardt was able to supply. As early as 1945, his son Jost joined the business. In 1955, he took over the management and was to bring about fundamental changes to the company.
Hundreds of life jackets in the swimming pool
The impetus for the switch to life jackets came from a Danish naval officer. He came to Hamburg to procure diving equipment; whilst there, he also enquired about life jackets and was supplied on several occasions by Jost Bernhardt with old naval stock. When these ran out, he began his own research. To this end, Bernhardt purchased several hundred models of life jackets from all over the world and systematically tested them in a swimming pool.
He documented the test subjects’ position in the water and their tendency to roll over using photographs taken both above and below the water. His key finding was that buoyancy should be concentrated around the neck, not the body. This is the only way to ensure that even an exhausted or unconscious person with clear airways remains on the surface.
Between 1958 and 1959, he published his findings in various specialist journals, thereby laying the scientific foundations for an entire industry. In the early 1960s, Jost Bernhardt founded Bernhardt Apparatebau GmbH together with the salvage contractor Ulrich Harms. From then on, lifejackets were developed under the Secumar brand name.
This tradition continues to this day, although, in its 100th year of existence, the company now offers a significantly wider range of products. These range from lifejackets for fighter jet pilots to cold-weather suits for sea rescue workers. In total, around 100,000 lifejackets in 450 to 500 different designs leave the factory in Holm every year. This makes Secumar one of the most versatile manufacturers in the industry worldwide today.
Strict quality standards
Every lifejacket undergoes a final inspection before dispatch. Secumar also weighs every CO₂ cartridge and checks every buoyancy chamber for air loss. For a batch of 200 units, two additional units are produced. These are pressurised until the material or a seam fails. This is how the company checks the quality of the entire batch.
A naval contract lays the foundations for series production
The company developed its brand essence out of the need to adapt. Secumar offers every client the opportunity to make specific adjustments or to collaborate on the development of highly specialised products. On the one hand, this flexibility has led to a vast product range; above all, however, it has resulted in extensive expertise – and ensured that production, development and quality control are all under one roof.
The foundations for this were laid in the 1960s with a major contract from the German Navy. It was then that Jost Bernhardt met Gerhard Junack. The captain had survived the sinking of the ‘Bismarck’ in 1941 and knew from personal experience how many seamen had drowned despite wearing lifejackets. Together, they developed the MRS 3. The inflatable lifejacket was specially adapted to the Navy’s leather combat uniforms of the time and featured two independent air chambers. If one failed, the other remained intact. At the same time, the buoyancy distribution kept even unconscious wearers in a safe supine position.
The German Navy introduced the MRS 3 in 1964 and, according to the company’s estimates, ordered a total of 50,000 to 60,000 units. “That was actually the foundation for the company as it is today,” says Benjamin Bernhardt. This contract laid the foundations for mass production.
Over the course of the following decades, new areas of application continued to emerge. Today, in addition to water sports, Secumar supplies commercial shipping, navies, fire services, rescue organisations and even air forces around the world.
Automatic lifejackets pave the way for water sports
Secumar only made a name for itself as a brand in recreational boating in the 1970s. The main problem was the design of the lifejackets that dominated the market at the time: bulky, rigid lifejackets hindered movement whilst working and were rarely worn. The new BS 8 lifejacket put an end to that. It inflated automatically on contact with water, was flat when deflated and could barely be felt. It was launched in 1970, quickly became the standard in inland waterway shipping and, shortly afterwards, opened up water sports as a new business area for Secumar.
For Jost Bernhardt, this move was not merely a business strategy. As his grandson Benjamin Bernhardt explains in an interview, his grandfather campaigned for greater Safety at sea was regarded as just as important as the development of the lifejackets themselves. Jost Bernhardt travelled from sailing club to sailing club, gave slide shows and shared his insights as far afield as Scandinavia, the Netherlands and France. “He really carried out missionary work,” says Benjamin Bernhardt. “He convinced people that this technology really is beneficial for everyone.” In doing so, his grandfather did not shy away from public disputes. When the Maritime Insurance Association classified the lifejackets commonly used at the time as safe, Jost Bernhardt publicly disagreed. He argued that the majority were “simply unsuitable”.
A fatal accident changes the family
In 1983, a personal tragedy occurred which was to change the company and the Bernhardt family from one day to the next. One of their sons drowned during a regatta on the Schlei. He had not been wearing his lifejacket. For Jost Bernhardt, who had devoted his entire working life to safety on the water, this was a blow from which he never fully recovered.
His second son, Jan-Ulrich Bernhardt, took over the management of the business. For the current managing director, Benjamin, his uncle’s death remains a constant reminder to this day. “The weather has nothing to do with whether you need to wear a lifejacket,” he says. “If I could fall into the water, I need a lifejacket. That could even be in the harbour, at 35 degrees and zero knots of wind.”
From a craft business to an industrial enterprise
Jan-Ulrich Bernhardt took over the company at a time of upheaval. He had to transform what his father had built up as a small craft business into an industrial enterprise. Demands were growing, and markets were changing as a result of the challenges posed by globalisation in the 1990s. “My father actually transformed the firm into an industrial enterprise,” says Benjamin Bernhardt of that period. With the advent of the European single market, international competition also intensified at that time. At the same time, public sector contracts dried up, putting the company under financial pressure.
The decision made at the time to continue manufacturing in Germany fits well with the company’s identity, which is based on never relinquishing responsibility for quality standards. For, according to Benjamin Bernhardt, the key to success lies in trust in the quality of the products. After all, buyers cannot judge in advance whether a life jacket will function reliably at the crucial moment. The company aims to justify this trust through in-house development, a high degree of vertical integration and comprehensive quality controls.
In the 1990s, this model came under economic pressure. At Secumar, production was switched to welded, polyurethane-coated buoyancy chambers. These were lighter, could be packed more compactly and allowed for greater buoyancy. According to Benjamin Bernhardt, the change was vital for the company’s survival, and his firm continues to benefit from the experience gained at that time. Yet they could have taken a different path back then. Globalisation had opened up cheaper production locations. However, development, manufacturing and quality control were to remain under one roof, in Holm.
“We will never win on price alone,” says Benjamin Bernhardt. The answer to global competition, he says, lies in specialisation, short supply chains and the ability to manufacture even small batches and bespoke solutions.
After 100 years, the question of succession remains unresolved
Today, the professional sector is Secumar’s most important area of business. Naval forces, in particular, are once again investing more heavily in their equipment. Added to this are the police, fire services and civil protection agencies. Aviation, however, remains a small niche market.
Benjamin Bernhardt leaves open the question of what the future holds for the company. “I can’t say for certain that the next generation will come from within the family,” he says. What he can say is that it is set to remain owner-managed. As a family business, we simply think differently. “We think in terms of generations. We don’t think from quarter to quarter.” In a business world increasingly focused on short-term returns, this is perhaps one of the reasons why, after 100 years, Secumar is still manufacturing in Holm.
Book recommendations
Yacht accidents examines typical accidents on sailing yachts on the basis of analysed case studies, including man-overboard situations. The book investigates causes and sequences of events, and also addresses risky behaviour, emergency communications and decision-making under pressure.
Safe Sailing at Sea focuses more on practical responses on board. A key area of focus is a rescue manoeuvre, including the recovery of a person who has fallen overboard, which the authors have also tested in strong winds and high waves. This is complemented by risk management and guidance on how to respond in an emergency.
A lifejacket only saves you if you’re actually wearing it. So why do so many sailors still choose not to wear one? Join the discussion and share your views in the comments.
David Ingelfinger
Volontär