When Germany’s Meyer Werft shipyard signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with Saga Cruises of the UK to deliver a cruise ship in mid-2019, it led to the decision to reactivate its smaller covered dock for ship construction. This dock is currently used for block fabrication, to support construction work in the yard’s 482m Dock II.
This will increase its annual output in 2019 from two ships to three and will bring more employment to the region around Papenburg in northern Germany, said Bernard Meyer, the yard’s managing partner, when the agreement – which includes an option on a second ship – was announced in late September. Together with an order announced in early November for a fifth Quantum class ship for Royal Caribbean Cruises for delivery in the third quarter of 2020, the yard currently holds 10 cruise ship orders, plus the Saga MoA, and is fully occupied through to 2020.
One order this year was especially notable. It was for four dual-fuelled liquefied natural gas (LNG)-diesel hybrid cruise ships. These are the first LNG-powered cruise ships ever ordered. They form part of a nine-ship project for Carnival Cruise Line, which the operator has split between Meyer Werft and Fincantieri in Italy for delivery between 2019 and 2022.
Carrying 6,600 passengers, they will be the largest cruise ships afloat in terms of guest capacity, and their tonnage will exceed 180,000gt. LNG will be used to generate all the ships’ power at sea and in port. Two of the ships – destined for Carnival’s Aida Cruises brand – will be built at the Papenburg yard and the other two – for Costa Cruises – at its recently-acquired shipyard in Turku, Finland.
Meyer Werft acquired a 70 per cent stake in the Turku facility in September 2014 when it took over the yard from STX Europe in conjunction with state-backed Finnish Industry Investment (FII). The German shipbuilder bought FII’s stake in April 2015. At that time Jan Meyer, chief executive of Meyer Turku, described the decision to buy the remaining shares as “a sign of confidence that we can make Turku shipyard a long-term shipbuilding success.”
Meyer Werft’s other German site is at Rostock where it is affiliated with Neptun Werft, which mainly builds river cruise ships, principally for operation on the rivers Danube and Rhône. Since 1997, the two yards have worked together as the Meyer Neptun Group, although Neptun Werft reverted to its original name in 2006.
It credits this partnership with giving it the expertise to win its first river cruise ship work in 2000. Its reference list since then has been dominated by contracts from Viking River Cruises.
Meyer Werft has invested about €550 million in its Papenburg facilities over the past 13 years. In 2002 it made the biggest investment in its history, opening its second building dock and pre-fabrication halls equipped with the laser welding equipment. This facility was extended and modernised in 2008 and 2011 and a piping fabrication centre has been built. In 2012, another hall was added to the yard’s laser centre.
More spending, worth €10 million, is now in hand to create a new technology and development centre to bring together much of the company’s cruise-related design and development work. A cornerstone-laying ceremony took place in mid-November and should be ready for staff to occupy in spring or early summer, a yard spokesman told Marine Propulsion. The centre will have 5,500m² of space over four floors to house about 400 designers and engineers.
It is investments such as these that have helped Meyer Werft expand its capacity and shorten construction time. In October, for example, it delivered the 164,000gt Norwegian Escape to Norwegian Cruise Line after a building period of 18 months. “We are proud of the team that worked diligently to design and build it,” Bernard Meyer said.
MEYER WERFT’S PAPENBERG DOCKS | ||
Dock I | Dock II | |
Length (hall) | 370m | 504m |
Length (dock) | 358m | 482m |
Breadth (hall) | 102m | 125m |
Breadth (dock) | 40m | 45m |
Height (hall) | 160m | 175m |
Crane capacity | 600 tonnes | 800 tonnes |
CRUISE SHIP ORDERS AT PAPENBERG AND TURKU | |
Owner | No of ships |
Meyer Werft Papenburg | |
Norwegian Cruise Line | 3 |
Genting Hong Kong (Star Cruises) | 2 |
Royal Caribbean Cruises | 3 |
Carnival (Aida Cruises) | 2 |
Saga Cruises | 1+1 |
Meyer Turku | |
TUI Cruises | 4 |
Carnival (Costa Cruises) | 2 |
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