He is not on the lazy side. 50-year-old Pau Schramm is a shrimp fisherman with three ships based in Rømø Harbour, and in addition to that he is also a co-owner of Rømø Havneservice. But it doesn't stop there, because Pau Schramm is also a farmer on the island and owns no less than 350 hectares in the northern part of the island.
This is where DOI.dk meets the businessman, who has been out to inspect his approximately 100 Galloway cattle. He is not lacking in enterprise, and it is not only on his personal behalf that his ambitions are not lacking. He wants the Port of Rømø to be developed to such an extent.
- The Port of Rømø has only one bedding, and this is where the problem lies, says Pau Schramm.
- We have been saying all along in the fishing association that we should have two dry docks instead of the bed, which is not at all suitable for the Wadden Sea due to the easterly wind, says Pau Schramm and makes a blunt statement:
- I guarantee that our bed is incorrectly constructed.
He bases this on three specific points of criticism.
- The bed cannot be used at low tide.
- It can only pull 160 tons, even though it should have been able to pull 200 tons.
- And then the ships stand crooked on it, because they cannot be pulled up completely, he lists.
The port's website otherwise states that the bed has a capacity of 200 tons.
Already in 2021, Pau Schramm's business partner Torben Krogh at Rømø Havneservice told about the possibilities for servicing CTVs to the wind industry, which wanted to increase with a dry dock.
No board seat
After the last municipal election, the fisherman tried to get on the port's board.
- I tried to get on the port's board, and I came with support from all the port's users except from the ferry. But they didn't want users of the port on the board, on the grounds that there were no other ports on the West Coast that had it, he says and continues:
- But I've found that that's not right at all, because there are users of the ports on the boards along the West Coast.
He also has no doubt that there is potential in the port.
- You could easily have had 20 jobs with a dry dock, but now it's hard to find employees, says Pau Schramm and makes a criticism:
- I don't think Tønder Municipality sees the potential in the port.
Have never seen the chairman of the port's board
Since the board took office, there hasn't been much dialogue, it's said.
- We are 25 fishermen on six ships, and we haven't had any contact with the current board, says Pau Schramm.
In fact, the fisherman has never met the current chairman of the board, Aarhus lawyer Henrik Kleist, even though he has been on the port's board since 2010. And a photo of Henrik Kleist doesn't change that.
- Look, I've never seen or met him, says Pau Schramm.
DOI.dk has presented Mayor Jørgen Popp Petersen from the Schleswig Party with the criticism that the municipality does not see the potential in the port. But the mayor is on vacation and refers to the port's board. Jørgen Popp Petersen, however, notes at the same time via text message that there is a positive development with ferry traffic and offshore wind.
Port manager Thorkil Hansen has been presented with the statements about the allegedly incorrectly constructed bed, but he does not want to comment on Pau Schramm's statements about operating conditions.
DOI.dk has tried in vain to get a comment from the chairman of the port, Henrik Kleist, both about the fact that Tønder Municipality does not see potential in the port, and whether he has actually not met one of the port's key users during his approximately 14 years as a member of the port's board.
Board member: The port's users should be invited
But another member of the board would like to make a comment. This is city council member Anita Uggerholt Eriksen from Tønder List.
- I think the municipality sees potential, she states and elaborates:
- I experience that there is both drive, commitment and knowledge on the board. We must provide the service that is needed, and we must do it well.
But there is also something about the role of fishing.
- I am aware that fishing is less important today, where only four out of 25 fishermen are local, says Anita Uggerholt Eriksen.
She also rejects the criticism about the chairman of the board's lack of contact with the port's users.
- I do not think it is the chairman's job to maintain contact with the port's users. That is the port manager's job, she says, emphasizing her satisfaction with port manager Thorkil Hansen, who has provided peace and stability to the port since 2015.
Now, however, Thorkil Hansen is on his way to retirement in the autumn.
- Now we are looking forward to a new port manager with visions for the port, says Anita Uggerholt Eriksen, opening up for close dialogue with the port's users:
- This confirms to me that it is a good idea to start inviting some of the port's users to the board meetings.
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