Seaman's home Portside in Bremerhaven: Closing at the end of 2025!

Seaman's home Portside in Bremerhaven: Closing at the end of 2025!

The Seemannshotel Portside in Bremerhaven will be closed at the end of 2025. This decision is the result of years of decline in the number of overnight stays and rising operating costs that can no longer be covered. The German Seamen's Mission (DSM) Hannover, which operated the hotel, has made this difficult decision, as Weser Kurier reports. Fewer and fewer seafarers are using the facility, resulting in losses of several hundred thousand euros per year.

In 2023, a total of 5,240 overnight stays were recorded at Portside, while in 2024 this fell to just 3,670 overnight stays. In the first quarter of 2025 there was even a decrease of 600 overnight stays compared to the previous year. This development is explained, among other things, by the fact that seafarers are increasingly getting directly from the plane to the ship and shipping companies are choosing other hotels, often for cost reasons. In addition, the shorter lay times of the ships have reduced usage, as Seemannsmission explains.

A house with tradition

The Seaman's Hotel Portside looks back on a long history. It was founded in 1899 and opened in 1900 before being rebuilt in 1950. Until recently it offered 26 rooms, which were not only available for sailors but also for tourist overnight stays. The seafarers' pastor Uwe Baumhauer emphasizes that despite the hotel's closure, the personal care of the seafarers will continue to be the top priority. The Welcome Seaman's Club remains intact and continues to provide support in an informal environment.

The decision to close was difficult for the board of the German Seaman's Mission Hannover, as Matthias Ristau, Secretary General of the DSM, explains. Nevertheless, he believes that it is necessary to look to the future and develop new projects that better meet the needs of seafarers. Creating financial scope for such projects is also one of the goals of this decision.

Support for seafarers remains important

Society has a responsibility to ensure seafarers' access to social facilities as set out in the Maritime Labor Convention. The German Seamen's Mission acts in this spirit and operates numerous social institutions in large German and international ports. Over 700 volunteers are active and bring seafarers to seafarers' homes and clubs. There you can expect cheap overnight accommodation and leisure activities.

These restructurings also benefit the Catholic seafarers' mission Stella Maris, which also operates in Hamburg, Bremen and Bremerhaven. The focus is on offering seafarers a point of contact and supporting them with minor and major concerns. Together, these organizations contribute to maintaining the dignity and well-being of seafarers, as Deutsche Fahne describes.

With the associated sale of the building, which is planned for the end of 2026, a chapter of the maritime tradition in Bremerhaven is coming to an end. However, there remains hope that new initiatives and projects can fill the gap and continue to offer support to seafarers.