Mecklenburg News

The insolvency administrator of the MV Werften Group, Dr Christoph Morgen, today handed over the symbolic key of the Wismar shipyard to Bernard Meyer of Meyer Wismar. The shipyard, which has been owned by TKMS since June 2022, has been leased back by the insolvency administrator and subleased to Meyer Wismar for the completion of the cruise vessel located in the dock hall. Present at the handover were approximately 400 employees, who are as of today employed by Meyer Wismar.“Over the course of the past year…

The German government made an offer to buy the insolvent MV Werften's Rostock shipyard for its navy, a defense ministry spokesperson said on Friday, in a move to top up capacities for repairing and servicing war ships.Germany, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has been scrambling to bring its military back in shape after decades of attrition following the Cold War.In a major policy shift, Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged in February to sharply increase defense spending, including an initial 100 billion euro ($106 billion) fund to fill gaps in weapons and other military equipment.The d

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was confident liquefied natural gas (LNG) could start flowing into the country via the Baltic Sea port of Lubmin within a matter of months, as Germany rushes to phase out Russian energy imports."Our goal is to get as much as possible there by the turn of the year, or a little bit later, so we can get gas quickly from wherever," Scholz said on Tuesday in Berlin after a meeting with the regional government of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.State premier Manuela Schwesig said the federal economy ministry and local energy ministry were conducting joint audits.

A German court will rule next week in a case brought by Genting Group against a German regional government after a row over funding for cruise shipbuilder MV Werften, which filed for insolvency on Monday.Genting, led by Malaysian tycoon Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, bought MV Werften in 2016. The pandemic has hit the global travel industry, including cruise operators and led to production stops at shipyards that build cruise ships.Genting's subsidiary Genting Hong Kong said on Tuesday…

The PC6 luxury expedition yacht Crystal Endeavor recently cruised out of MV WERFTEN in Stralsund, Germany.The vessel, which had been built from 2018, was named by Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig on June 26. The 20,200 GT Crystal Endeavor measures 164.5 x 23.4m, touted as the world’s largest luxury expedition yacht, able to accommodate 200 passengers and offers a 1:1 crew to passenger ratio.“Crystal Endeavor” is now en route to Iceland and is scheduled for a July 15 arrival in Reykjavík.

Russia has resumed construction of the politically-charged Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany, laying pipes after a one-year hiatus prompted by U.S. sanctions, the pipeline operator said on Friday.An alleged nerve agent attack on Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny in August was the latest political controversy to hit the nearly-completed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, as Germany debates whether to halt the project as part of potential sanctions against Russia.Led by Russia's Gazprom with Western partners…

German shipbuilder MV Werften has said it has secured a 193 million euro loan from the German government to complete the new polar class luxury expedition ship Crystal Endeavor and to keep the shipyard in operation till March 2021. As reported back in April, Genting's Crystal Cruises announced the Crystal Endeavor's launch would be delayed due to the temporary closure of the MV Werften shipyards during the COVID-19 pandemic.The 164-meter, 20,000-gross-ton Crystal Endeavor was…

EnBW Baltic 2 one of Germany’s largest offshore wind farms in the Baltic Sea will soon be serviced from the Danish port of Klintholm on the island of Møn, EnBW said Tuesday. The company has so far had its service team of up to 25 people travel from Rostock to a hotel vessel close to the EnBW Baltic 2 offshore wind farm. A hotel and a service building are now being constructed in Klintholm [Denmark], from where the EnBW workers will be ferried to the wind farm in the mornings and evenings during their two-week duty roster.

Stena Line will permanently suspend operations on its ferry route between Trelleborg, Sweden and Sassnitz, Germany due to the coronavirus pandemic, the European operator announced on Wednesday.The cancellation comes after Stena Line announced in March it would temporarily suspend operations on the route.Stena Line has initiated discussions with the workers' council Betriebsrat in Germany. The ferry FS Sassnitz is laid up in Port of Mukran, Sassnitz, until further notice. In recent years…

Powered by growth on the Rostock and Trelleborg route, Stena Line announced plans to invest $5.5m in a refit and renovation of the cabins and public spaces onboard the two ships, FS Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and M/S Skåne.The refit will start in the end of December and take place both during the planned yard visits and during operation. The project will be finished in time before the peak season 2020.Renovation will cover all cabins and public areas, corridors and food outlets. Onboard…

The first building-block for AIDA Cruises’ second LNG-fueled cruise ship was put in place at the Neptun Werft shipyard in Rostock, Germany.The two trainees, Charleen Hoffmann (AIDA Cruises) and Kenny Schaft (Meyer Werft shipyard) placed the traditional lucky coin beneath the first of a total of 90 blocks.On the occasion of the keel-laying, the name of the new ship and its first routing were announced: the ship will be named AIDAcosma, and will be cruising from Kiel to the Norwegian fjords and the Baltic Sea from summer 2021.Together with the Managing Director of the Meyer Werft shipyard Tim Meyer and the head of the Neptun Werft shipyard in Rostock Manfred Ossevorth…

Germany's Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy  Peter Altmaier and coastal states agree package of measures for shore-generated power.Instead of burning fossil fuels to generate shipboard electric power, in future vessels in port should be using renewable shore-based energy. The German government is now launching appropriate measures to promote shore-generated power.Along with the premiers of Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg and representatives of the state governments of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony and Bremen, that was confirmed today by German economics minister Peter Altmaier.Meeting in Kiel, they signed…

Cruise operator Genting Hong Kong (GHK) said that its unit Dream Cruises has launched the construction of the second Global Class cruise ship at German shipbuilder MV Werften  in Rostock-Warnemünde.“Production of Dream Cruises’ second Global Class ship commenced at MV Werften in Rostock-Warnemünde today, almost exactly a year after the keel laying of the flagship of the series," said Genting Hong Kong’s Chairman and CEO Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay while initiating at the press of a button the first steel cutting for the 342m long, 46m wide, 208,000 gross ton cruise vessel.“We are delighted that our comprehensive investments at the three shipyard…

KfW IPEX-Bank, leading a consortium consisting of six international banks, is structuring the financing of two cruise ships for Genting Hong Kong Ltd. and its brand Dream Cruises.The Global Class I and II ships are currently being built in the three shipyards of MV Werften located on the Baltic Coast in the German federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.The financing package comprises around EUR 2.6 billion with a total investment volume of just under EUR 3.1 billion.The structure will be backed by export credit guarantees of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Finnish export credit agency Finnvera, as well as by a guarantee from the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

The energy advisory and certification body DNV GL has awarded Iberdrola Renovables Offshore Deutschland GmbH the project certificate for its Wikinger offshore wind farm.The 350 megawatt offshore wind farm project located in the German Baltic sea is fully certified for safe and reliable power generation.The certification was carried out according to the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH – Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie) and covers all stages of the design assessment and implementation phase of the wind turbines, offshore substation including their support structures and the array power cables.The wind farm is located in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Baltic sea…

Power cable systems provider NKT has commissioned the 170kV HVAC cable system for the 400MW Kriegers Flak combined grid solution which is the world’s first offshore interconnector using the national grid connections of offshore wind farms to connect the power grids of Denmark and Germany.NKT has successfully commissioned the turn key project of the 170 kV HVAC cable system for the combined grid solution connecting the wind farms Kriegers Flak and Baltic 2 for the innovative project Kriegers Flak Combined Grid Solution.The unique project was completed according to schedule and on budget and allows the national grid operators Energinet…

Their Majesties King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands called at MV WERFTEN’s Rostock facility in the course of their working visit to Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. They were accompanied by the Dutch Infrastructure Minister Cora van Nieuwenhuizen and the Minister-President of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Manuela Schwesig. The Dutch royal couple’s working visit serves to cultivate and further intensify relations between the two countries.Hundreds of shipyard employees lined up to give the royal visitors a warm welcome on their arrival at the shipyard.

European ferry operator Stena Line has installed Japanese sleeping pods on its Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Skåne vessels, operating between Rostock in Germany and Trelleborg in Sweden.Stena Line is the first ferry company to offer its customers Japanese sleeping pods which will be a cost-efficient way to sleep and rest during the crossing.The pods are inspired by Japanese capsule hotels offer 2m2space for one person and can be booked from today and will be available for travellers from April 1st.“We see it as an innovative offer for a cost-conscious target group, which nonetheless values comfort and privacy,” said Martin Wahl, Stena Line’s Travel Commercial Manager for Stena Lines routes between Germany and Sweden.Each berth is equipped with a mattress and bed linen…

Hong Kong–German shipbuilding company MV Werften put into operation the laser-hybrid welding line in its new hall 11 for producing panels measuring up to 25 x 16 meters for the Global Class cruise ships.Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Economics Minister Harry Glawe, representatives of Genting Hong Kong, MV Werften , the automation provider Pemamek as well as other project partners were present in the new Hall 11 when the plant produced its first weld seam.“The new plant enables us to make a significant increase in the capacity of our steel prefabrication for the Global cruise ships in Rostock and take a further, important step towards Industry 4.0.

Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) loaded the biggest ship propeller in the world onto a vessel. The “HHLA IV” floating crane brought the gigantic 110-tonne object to the port of Waltershof, where it was hoisted onto the “Hyundai Supreme” container ship.It was the most powerful ship propeller to have ever been lifted by the hook of a HHLA floating crane. Although HHLA regularly loads the specialised products of Mecklenburger Metallguss GmbH (MMG) onto ships in Hamburg, the latest propeller, with a weight of 110 tonnes and a diameter of 10.50 metres, surpassed anything that had ever been seen at the port before.MMG is a leading manufacturer of ship propellers.

German Chancellor, Angela Merkel and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern’s Prime Minister, Manuela Schwesig were among those in attendance at a keel laying ceremony for the world’s largest polar-class expedition yacht held Tuesday in Germany.The ceremony marked a construction milestone for the 20,000 gross ton luxury expedition yacht Crystal Endeavor, currently being built for Crystal Cruises at MV WERFTEN's Stralsund shipyard.“The keel laying of Crystal Endeavor here in my political hometown of Stralsund marks a special moment for me that is doubly significant…

While orders for new vessels have continued to decline worldwide in 2017, the situation in the German and European shipbuilding market is different, with an increase of incoming orders. As shipping experts state: “…this is not a trend but a snapshot, but it indicates a high competitiveness of the German shipbuilding industry, particularly on technologically advanced projects.”The global mood barometer of the maritime industry had reached its lowest point in 2016. From the abyss confidence and order have carefully increased…

Shipbuilder MV Werften said it has begun building Crystal’s new luxury expedition yacht, Crystal Endeavor, with first steel cut on January 15 at its shipyard in Stralsun, Germany. Set to debut in 2020, Crystal Endeavor will be Crystal’s largest and most spacious purpose-built Polar Class ship featuring all-suite, butler-serviced accommodations, and adventure in polar regions and other remote destinations. Employees and guests watched as the flame cutter was launched by Genting Hong Kong Chairman and CEO…