End of the Schwentine marina: Damage forces traditional harbour to close

Operator Swantje Salihu told our magazine: "Safety first." Damage was discovered on the northern bank of the Schwentine during investigations, which made it impossible to maintain harbour operations.

Salihu says that she immediately endeavoured to find a solution for the ships in her harbour: "Thank goodness a structural engineer was able to confirm that we are allowed to crane ships in here. This gives sailors who have another berthing option than our harbour for the summer the chance to move their boats this year." During winter storage, up to 170 boats were parked on their premises. The Schwentine marina also had around 35 water berths. "I'm really sorry for the sailors who were also moored here in the summer, I had imagined things differently," said the marina's previous operator. She had wanted to continue operating the Schwentine marina for a few more years, but this was cancelled by the city's order that the marina had to be vacated by 14 April.

An investigation by divers revealed that safe operation of the harbour could not be guaranteed. They therefore had to cordon off the jetties with flutter tape. In an interview with BOOTE, the former operator did not specify what damage was involved. Nevertheless, Salihu is giving customers on land until 30 June to clear their ships and trailers from the site.

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Hans-Peter Markmann, Salihu's father, bought the property around 50 years ago. "Before that, the Kampfmayer mill was here," remembers Swantje Salihu, "when I was a child, the bargemen used to come here. One arm of the mill was then swivelled out to load the grain or unload the ships. Later, her father ran the harbour on the site. "The water areas had to be rented, and in the beginning that even went through my grandmother," says Salihu.

Last year, she took over the harbour business from her father. "It was all a bit chaotic at first, especially when it came to the figures. My husband and I therefore expanded our joint limited company to include the operation of a pleasure craft harbour," says the former operator of the Schwentine marina, who runs a fish restaurant in Laboe together with her husband Agron Salihu.

She is not yet able to say what will happen in the future. "I personally won't be able to invest the required capital," says Salihu.