ARTE, 2017, 30 min.
Container ships once promised to make a lot of money for their owners. More and more, bigger and bigger ships were commissioned. Then, however, the freight rates dropped and many shipping companies found themselves unable to service the loans they had taken out to pay for the vessels. As a result, the first shipping companies started going bankrupt. Today, many of them are struggling to survive. NSB was one of those facing ruin and was obliged to take drastic measures: it laid off all its German seamen. The ships were flagged out and registered in low-wage countries instead. Although this allowed the shipping company to be saved, all 486 German employees lost their jobs. One of them is Reinhold Stecher – to this day he is fighting for his rights and those of his co-workers.
Directors: Steven Galling, Cordula Stadter
Editorial team: Kathrin Bronnert
Producer: Nadja Frenz
Production company: Vincent TV