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Meyer Werft

Coordinates: 53°05′55″N 7°21′59″E / 53.09861°N 7.36639°E / 53.09861; 7.36639
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Meyer Werft GmbH & Co. KG
Company typePrivate
IndustryShipbuilding
Founded1795
HeadquartersPapenburg, Germany
Key people
Bernard Meyer, CEO

Thomas Weigend Dr. Jan Meyer Tim Meyer[1]

Bernd Eikens[2]
ProductsCruise ships
Tankers
Livestock carriers
Ferries
Research vessels
Revenue
  • Increase€51 million (2018)
  • Increase€17 million (2019)
  • Decrease€70 million (2020)
[3]
Number of employees
7,000 (2024),[4] 3100 (2030)[5]
ParentMeyer Neptun S.à.r.l.
Websitemeyerwerft.com
Meyer Werft
Meyer Werft

Meyer Werft (pronounced [ˈmaɪɐ ˈvɛʁft] ⓘ; lit. 'Meyer Shipyard') is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Papenburg at the river Ems. It was founded in 1795, as a builder of small wooden vessels. It has been owned and managed by the Meyer family for seven generations. Since 1997, it has been part of the Meyer Neptun Group, together with Neptun Werft in Rostock. In 2014, the company added the Turku shipyard in Finland to the group. Since then, it has also been a builder of luxury passenger ships. 700 ships of different types had been built at the yard. The Dock 2 Hall is the third largest shipbuilding hall and the fifth-largest usable volume in the world as of 2022. The shipyard is an anchor on the European Route of Industrial Heritage.[6]

History

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The shipyard was founded at the beginning of 1795 by Willm Rolf Meyer as a yard specializing in small wooden vessels. Josef Lambert Meyer began building iron vessels in 1874.[7] During the Second World War, Meyer Werft mainly repaired ships, including ships from the Kriegsmarine. There were once more than 20 shipyards in the Papenburg area, but today Meyer Werft is the only one remaining.[citation needed]

Meyer Werft gained international recognition through the construction of roll-on/roll-off ferries, passenger ferries, gasoline tankers, container ships, livestock ferries and most recently luxury cruise ships.[citation needed]

Meyer is one of the largest and most modern shipyards in the world with about 3300 employees, and home to the largest roofed dry docks in the world. The first covered dock was inaugurated in 1987 and was 370 meters long, 101,5 meters wide and 60 meters high. In 1990/91 the dock was extended by an additional 100 meters. In 2004, a second covered dock was built, which is announced to be extended to a full-length of 504 meters, a width of 125 meters and height of 75 meters in order to compete with Asian shipyards. Meyer Werft will as a result of this be able to build three cruise ships a year.[8] Because the yard at Papenburg is upstream on the river Ems, the giant ships to be delivered have to make a 36 km voyage to the Dollart bay. These voyages attract thousands of spectators. Up until the completion of the Ems river barrier in 2002, the journey was only possible at high tides.[citation needed]

In September 2014 Meyer Werft acquired 70% ownership of STX Finland and the Turku shipyard STX Finland Oy from STX Europe with the state-owned Finnish Industry Investment owning the remaining 30%. The shipyard was renamed Meyer Turku Oy.[9][10][11] Meyer Werft acquired the remaining 30% in 2015.[citation needed]

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Meyer Werft ran into financial trouble due to a rise in energy and material costs for their shipbuilding contracts. In 2024, Meyer Werft needed €2.8 billion to complete its existing orders but were unable to obtain financing from banks. The German state and the States of Germany were asked to support the struggling shipyard. Chancellor Olaf Scholz proclaimed the systemic relevance of Meyer Werft in mid August 2024 and signaled the readiness to help out, pending approval by the Bundestag and the European Commission.[12] On 13 September 2024, the German parliaments budgetary committee voted for the governments rescue plan.[13] Research by Handelsblatt showed that the Federal Ministry of Finance had addressed the committee in a secret dossier and stressed the potential importance of the shipyard for military projects if global tensions should rise. However, Max Johns, Professor for Maritime Management with the HSBA called the claim of Meyer Werft's importance for military projects a "retroactive search for reasons" after politicians had already promised to help, and that ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and Lürssen were already available.[14] The contracts were signed on 16 September 2024, with the German government acquiring 80 % of the company for €400 million.[15] A week after the signing, systemic malpractices in management accounting were discovered, with the management apparently unaware of the actual state of Meyer Werft projects and never having produced monthly financial statements.[16]

The German government and the state of Lower Saxony take over their shares on 19 December 2024. Germany will place two representatives on the supervisory board, while Lower Saxony has designated another two representatives for the board, with Klaus Richter to be proposed as it´s chairman.[17]

Ships built at Meyer Werft

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Main article: List of ships built at Meyer Werft

A large variety of ships have been built at Meyer Werft, including car carriers, cargo ships, container ships, cruise ships, ferries, fishing vessels, gas carriers, lightvessels, paddlesteamers, passenger ships and Seebäderschiffs. During the last years, the shipyard was only building cruise ships.[18][19][20][21] Since 2024, the company is building parts of Converter Platform. The decision was made during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.[22][23][24]

Future projects
Delivery Name Weight Owner Dock Hall Notes
2024–2027 – – Dragados Offshore Offshore Steel Platforms DolWin4 (dolwin delta, S.727[25][26][27][28]), BorWin4, BalWin1 & BalWin2
2025 Asuka III 51.950  Japan Nippon Yusen 1 Cruises, 744 Pax, LNG
2025 Disney Destiny 135.000  United States Disney Cruise Line 2 Cruises, 1250 Cabins, LNG
2026 Njord 84.800 Ocean Residences Development 1 Residences, 1000 Pax, Methane
2026 Meteor IV 10.000  Germany German Government 1 Research
2027 N.N. (Excel-Class) 180.000  United States Carnival Cruise Line 2 Cruises
2027 N.N. 160.000[29] Disney Cruise Line 2 Cruises
2028 N.N. (Excel-Class) 180.000  United States Carnival Cruise Line 2 Cruises
2028[30] N.N. (Wish Class) 144.000  Japan Oriental Land / Disney Cruise Line 2 Cruises, 1250 Cabins, LNG
2029 N.N. 160.000[29] Disney Cruise Line 2 Cruises
2030 N.N. 160.000[29] Disney Cruise Line 2 Cruises
2031 N.N. 160.000[29] Disney Cruise Line 2 Cruises

List of shipyards

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References

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  1. ^ "MEYER WERFT | Imprint". MEYER WERFT.
  2. ^ "Meyer Group restructures, brings in new CEO".
  3. ^ "Substanz der deutschen Werften "bröckelt"" (in German). 2021-03-15. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
  4. ^ "MEYER Group". Archived from the original on 20 March 2024. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Meyer Werft Workers Demiss". Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  6. ^ "ERIH Entry: Meyer Shipyard". European Route of Industrial Heritage. 2014. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  7. ^ MEYER WERFT GmbH. "Triton".
  8. ^ "Meyer Werft baut größte Dockhalle der Welt". Spiegel Online. 2008-01-18. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
  9. ^ MEYER WERFT GmbH. "Press Release".
  10. ^ "Valtio ja Meyer Werft ostavat Turun telakan - kauppahinta ei julkinen". Turun Sanomat. 4 August 2014.
  11. ^ MEYER WERFT GmbH. "Press Release".
  12. ^ Thaler, Claudia (2024-08-22). "Niedersachsen: Bund will angeschlagene Meyer Werft retten". Die Zeit (in German). ISSN 0044-2070. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  13. ^ NDR. "Kriselnde Meyer Werft bekommt staatliche Hilfen - nur eine Partei stimmt nicht zu". www.ndr.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  14. ^ "Meyer Werft militärisch wichtig? Experte zweifelt an Begründung". capital.de (in German). 2024-09-11. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  15. ^ "Handelsblatt". www.handelsblatt.com. Retrieved 2024-09-16.
  16. ^ "Meyer Werft: Folgen fehlender Strukturen wirken in alle Bereiche hinein". FAZ.NET (in German). 2024-09-21. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  17. ^ "Bund und Land steigen bei Meyer Werft ein" WiWo.de 18 December 2024, retrieved 18 December 2024
  18. ^ "Meyer Werft beginnt mit Stahlarbeiten für Offshore-Plattform".
  19. ^ "Fertigungsstart für Konverterplattform DolWin delta in der Meyer Werft". 5 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Meyer Werft startet Bau von Offshore-Konverterplattform". 5 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Trotz Krise: Meyer Werft startet Bau von Plattform für Windkraft | NOZ". July 2024.
  22. ^ Schade, Gerd (2024-07-04). "Energiewende: "Historischer Tag" auf der Meyer Werft in Papenburg | NOZ". noz.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  23. ^ "Neues Geschäft für Papenburger Meyer Werft: Bau von Konverterstationen - buten un binnen". www.butenunbinnen.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  24. ^ "Start of Production for Converter Platform". MEYER WERFT. Retrieved 2024-07-31.
  25. ^ https://scontent-ham3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/449838616_879184167581605_7469586077591452405_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=ligV551sIxgQ7kNvgE6h6cA&_nc_ht=scontent-ham3-1.xx&_nc_gid=AH1j5pKba6yhJHmfZX07h8e&oh=00_AYCZt2fgZdGovA1mg3aBXKRZgX8S_nd9w1fJwmgkyaoEVQ&oe=66ECD654
  26. ^ https://scontent-ham3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/450216682_879184154248273_588003284636462877_n.jpg?_nc_cat=104&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=127cfc&_nc_ohc=cjNuDRZWtOYQ7kNvgFscDxU&_nc_ht=scontent-ham3-1.xx&oh=00_AYAJYMwV8nRPb4POBIHGvsewzEFxDdePMaLCORbmRLT_oQ&oe=66ECDA59
  27. ^ "Hauke Jürgensen on LinkedIn: #energytransition #HVDC #offshoregridconnections".
  28. ^ https://media.licdn.com/dms/image/v2/D4D22AQHMmKoR_T4H0w/feedshare-shrink_800/feedshare-shrink_800/0/1720174387233?e=2147483647&v=beta&t=xApPV2v97G6YVFM0KNCnrmvEjS-XqGRjGV3zGHkmOIk
  29. ^ a b c d "Cruise Ship Orderbook - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News". cruiseindustrynews.com/. Retrieved 2024-11-16.
  30. ^ Assies, Christoph (2024-07-09). "Neuer Auftrag für die Meyer Werft". Crucero - Das Kreuzfahrtmagazin (in German). Retrieved 2024-07-31.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Meyer Werft, Papenburg.

53°05′55″N 7°21′59″E / 53.09861°N 7.36639°E / 53.09861; 7.36639

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