Baltic Sea mooring checkThere is still room in MV - but not on every jetty

David Ingelfinger

 · 07.04.2026

Baltic Sea mooring check: There is still room in MV - but not on every jettyPhoto: dpa; pa
A bird's eye view of Rostock: in addition to a large marina, there are also smaller, urban jetties.
With an average of four free permanent berths per harbour, the coast of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern offers more capacity than Schleswig-Holstein. This is confirmed by a recent survey conducted by boote among the harbours there. But this first impression is deceptive. We explain why motorboat owners can also have difficulties finding a permanent berth in the east.

For a berth report, boote wrote to more than 200 harbours and marinas along the German Baltic Sea coast. Of these, 38 marinas from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern provided detailed feedback on their current mooring situation.

Although the analysis shows significantly more free capacity overall than in Schleswig-Holstein, this is distributed very unevenly across the region. While a few large marinas have plenty of space, numerous smaller harbours are already fully booked - much like in Schleswig-Holstein.

Concentration in the Baltic Sea conurbations

Specific hotspots have emerged: five large facilities account for almost 35 per cent of all available capacity. In Schleswig-Holstein, on the other hand, the five largest ports only account for 25 per cent. The berths in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are therefore more concentrated in fewer locations than in the neighbouring state to the west.


More about the mooring situation on the Baltic Sea:


For those travelling through, the tight situation with permanent berths plays a rather subordinate role, as the number of guest berths is higher overall. Crews travelling through usually have no problem finding a berth. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, there is an average of 33 free guest berths per harbour, while in Schleswig-Holstein there are only ten.

But here, too, the statistics distort the picture. A few outliers drive the average upwards - a few harbours account for the majority of free capacity. Skippers should therefore find out about available guest berths in advance.

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What a berth in MV costs

The generally more relaxed market situation in the east is reflected above all in the prices. For a twelve-metre yacht as a guest berth, an average of 23 euros per night is charged in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania - two euros less than in Schleswig-Holstein.

The difference is more pronounced for permanent moorings: In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, boat owners pay an average of 38 euros per square metre, compared to 44.50 euros in Schleswig-Holstein. For a 12-metre yacht with around 35 square metres of floor space, the difference adds up to 225 euros per year.

Price comparison - How SH and MV differ:

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Source: YACHT survey

Especially in large facilities in maritime conurbations and on popular holiday islands, prices are often higher than in quieter inland areas. Another decisive factor is the services, which can vary considerably from harbour to harbour.


Weit entfernt von den Küsten im Rhein-Main-Gebiet aufgewachsen, fand David Ingelfinger erst im Alter von elf Jahren auf den niederländischen Gewässern zum Segelsport. Was als Familienurlaub ohne großartige Vorkenntnisse begann, mündete in einer steilen Lernkurve, aus der die dauerhafte Leidenschaft fürs Segeln entsprang. Seine praktischen Erfahrungen festigte er über die Jahre mit dem Erwerb des SKS und zahlreichen Meilen als Skipper auf Charteryachten im Ijsselmeer, der Nordsee sowie im Mittelmeer. Nach seinem Studium der Publizistik schlägt er nun die Brücke zwischen dem journalistischen Handwerk und der Praxis auf dem Wasser und bringt seine Begeisterung für den Sport als Volontär in die Redaktion der YACHT ein.

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