BSH is the maritime partner to industry, science, and environmental organisations with over 800 dedicated employees. BSH has a wide range of responsibilities:
Services to maritime shipping, including tonnage measurement, law of the flag, International Shipping Register
Promotion of the German commercial fleet
Issue and registration of mariners' certificates
Type-testing and approval of radio communications and navigation equipment
Improvement of knowledge of the oceans
Surveys in the North and Baltic Seas performed by BSH vessels
Publication of nautical charts and small-craft charts
Approval of offshore activities, e.g. wind farms, pipelines, submarine cables
Prediction of tides, water levels, and storm surges
Monitoring of the marine environment
Prosecution of environmental offences
BSH is the authority responsible for measures to prevent the introduction of alien species with ships, and thus also for the approval of ballast water management systems.
