Moorings on the Baltic Sea: Mr Stahlhut, is the all-clear for the jetties?
Fabian Boerger
· 03.04.2026
Mr Stahlhut, what is the mood among port operators and marinas?
This is basically good. What we hear from both Binnen and Buten: There are now free berths again. Of course, there are still waiting lists. With a 15-metre boat in the Ancora Marina (Neustadt in Holstein, ed.) will certainly be difficult. It's a different story at six metres. It's a similar picture on Lake Constance - and that's special. There have been no places there for 50 years, and if there were, they were inherited. In other words, the pressure that built up during coronavirus is now easing. If you search a little and are not fixated on one location, you will find something.
What about the prices of the moorings? Have they followed the general upward trend?
Definitely. The cost of both summer and winter berths has risen in recent years. In the future, however, this could shift again and prices could fall, combined with higher availability.
Demographic change in water sports too
Why do you think that?
In the next 10 to 15 years, many people are likely to leave water sports. Unfortunately, we can't prevent this, especially as we can't find enough newcomers who want to buy boats directly.
What do you mean?
We will not be able to free ourselves from the demographic change in water sports.
According to our surveys, the average age is now 62, with boat owners retiring at around 75. In the next few years, we will therefore have to deal with major structural changes that we can at best compensate for with newcomers. However, if you look at the birth rate, this will not work out.
How should we deal with this?
Awareness of this has not yet reached the entire industry. It was a topic at boot 2026. However, there are no concrete ideas yet. We are only at the beginning of the process. As an industry, we need to realise the following: The potential has halved. In other words - in view of the ageing population and thus a shrinking target group - two or better three per cent of the population would have to buy a boat in the future in order to keep the market stable. Not everyone realises this.
The search for new entrants
How strong is your appeal to take action now?
It's not too late to start, but it shouldn't be much later either. We are talking about a time frame of 10 to 15 years.
It is therefore important to generate enough new entrants.
These are people who are around 20 years old. Very few of them say they want to own a boat. They are more interested in sharing models such as chartering. The issue of costs also plays a role here: if you own a boat, it can quickly add up to 3,000 euros in mooring fees, 3,000 euros in winter storage, repair and maintenance costs. Many people drop out at that point.
What are the reasons that the berths are so expensive?
The marinas have been fully booked for the last few years, and this effect has been amplified by the coronavirus. It's quite normal in a market economy: supply and demand determine the price. If the pressure on the marinas eases, this will certainly regulate itself downwards. On the other hand, certain costs have risen for the marinas, such as energy.
But there are strategies here too. For example, covering the roofs with solar panels. You could also cover the jetties. However, I don't know the exact calculations for a marina in Germany. In the inland area, water leases from the federal government have risen slightly by 10 to 15 per cent. The federal government is obliged to do this. There are budgetary reasons for this.
This is what the industry has to say about the current berth situation:
Marina of the future
With the solar systems, you are addressing innovative ideas for marinas. How fit for the future do you think the harbours on the Baltic Sea are?
There is certainly still room for improvement. In Denmark, you can see that a lot of things are now fully automated. At most, the harbour master will come back in the evening and ask if everything is OK. However, it also depends on what you want - and that's a question of generational change: my parents' generation was always happy to have a chat with the harbour master.
The younger generation is doing well with paying for their berths via mobile app.
From the marinas' point of view, this is of course also a question of costs. A certain number of marinas are operated commercially, while the majority are run by clubs. These are often smaller, so large infrastructure investments are simply not worthwhile.
Another issue is the berths themselves. Yachts are getting bigger and, above all, wider. Is that a problem?
The marinas will have to adapt to this. They designed their jetties at a time when boats were still around 3.50 metres wide. If boats become four or more metres wide in the future, but are no longer than ten metres, it will be exciting to see what happens.
Fabian Boerger
Editor News & Panorama
