Germany Signs Letter of Intent for a Second North Sea Naval Base at Emden — Knock/Rysumer Nacken, Early 2030s
Emden, 5 October 2026
Key points
- The defence ministry, the state of Lower Saxony, the federal real-estate agency BImA and the city of Emden signed a letter of intent on 5 October for a naval port at Emden; the ministry's release calls it "legally not binding" and the basis for the formal steps to follow (translated)
- The site under consideration, Knock/Rysumer Nacken, is not federal property and must first be sold to BImA; Lower Saxony and Emden have pledged support. The final decision follows detailed feasibility studies, to be completed "promptly"
- Wilhelmshaven, the only naval port on the North Sea, will not alone meet future needs for berths, pier length and support capacity, the release says
- Boris Pistorius, the defence minister, spoke of an investment in the billions, completion in the early 2030s if possible, up to 2,000 posts in the long term and up to 450 hectares of land, with supply and support ships probably based there and no detailed planning yet (dpa)
Germany has chosen where its second North Sea naval base should go; it does not yet own the land, and the document that says so binds no one.
The ministry derives the requirement from the threat picture, NATO defence planning and capability targets, and Operationsplan Deutschland: more personnel need training and accommodation buildings, new ships and boats need berths. The navy examined new sites and existing ports on navigation, strategic position and connections, and found Emden the best option, with quick access to the Atlantic and the High North. "A new naval base is not something you get at the DIY store," Pistorius said; hydraulic engineering, transport links and the barracks remain to be settled. A second base, he added, makes the navy harder to predict in an emergency. Olaf Lies, Lower Saxony's minister-president, offered the Land's record of fast planning and approval.
Wilhelmshaven, the Bundeswehr's largest site, is home to Einsatzflottille 2, with the frigates, combat support ships and fleet tankers. On Monday the local Nabu conservation group warned against giving up the Rysumer Nacken, which it called a hotspot of biodiversity.
Six days apart, two letters of intent on the North Sea coast commit the ministry in different ways: at Bremerhaven it pays into a civilian port it will not own, at Emden it would build a federal base on land it must first buy. The Bremerhaven letter named up to EUR 1.35 billion and a list of works; Emden's names no cost, date or personnel figure, and its first binding step is a land sale between a city, a Land and BImA, followed by the approvals a site conservationists prize will draw. The constraint is ground and permits, not money. The support ships Pistorius expects there serve a surface fleet that is adding MEKO A-200 frigates. Signal No. 160 set the two letters beside each other.
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