Meyer Werft Explained

Meyer Werft GmbH & Co. KG
Type:Private
Foundation:1795
Location:Papenburg, Germany
Key People:Bernard Meyer, CEOThomas WeigendDr. Jan MeyerTim Meyer[1] Bernd Eikens[2]
Industry:Shipbuilding
Products:Cruise ships
Tankers
Livestock carriers
Ferries
Research vessels
Revenue:[3]
Num Employees:7,000 (2024),[4] 3100 (2030)[5]
Parent:Meyer Neptun S.à.r.l.

Meyer Werft is a German shipyard headquartered in Papenburg at the river Ems, founded in 1795 with 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, Yard is 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

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. For seven generations it has been a privately held and family-owned company.

Company

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.

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.

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.

Ships built at Meyer Werft

See 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.[12] [13] [14] [15] Since 2024, the company is building parts of Converter Platform. The decision was made during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.[16] [17] [18]

Contracts

Planned Signed Projects decided between shipbuilder and ship owners.

data-sort-type="number"Deliverydata-sort-type="text"Namedata-sort-type="number"Weightdata-sort-type="text"Ownerdata-sort-type="text"Dock Halldata-sort-type="text"Notes
2024Disney Treasure135.000 Disney Cruise Line2Cruises, 1250 Cabins, LNG
2024–2027Dragados OffshoreOffshore Steel Platforms DolWin4, BorWin4, BalWin1 & BalWin2
2025Asuka III51.950 Nippon Yusen1Cruises, 744 Pax, LNG
2025Disney Destiny135.000 Disney Cruise Line2Cruises, 1250 Cabins, LNG
2026Njord84.800Ocean Residences DevelopmentResidences, 1000 Pax, Methane
2026Meteor IV10.000 German Government1 Research
2027N.N. (Excel-Class)180.000 Carnival Cruise Line2Cruises
2028N.N. (Excel-Class)180.000 Carnival Cruise Line2Cruises
2028[19] Disney Project135.000 Oriental Land2Cruises, 1250 Cabins, LNG

List of shipyards

References

Hans Jürgen Witthöft, Meyer Werft- Innovative shipbuilding from Papenburg, Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Hamburg

  1. Web site: MEYER WERFT | Imprint. MEYER WERFT.
  2. Web site: Meyer Group restructures, brings in new CEO.
  3. Web site: Substanz der deutschen Werften "bröckelt". 2021-03-15. 2021-03-16. german.
  4. Web site: MEYER Group. 20 March 2024. live. https://web.archive.org/web/20240320051552/https://www.meyerwerft.de/en/company/the_meyer_group/index.jsp. 20 March 2024.
  5. Web site: Meyer Werft Workers Demiss. 5 July 2024.
  6. Web site: ERIH Entry: Meyer Shipyard. 2014. European Route of Industrial Heritage. 15 January 2015.
  7. Web site: Triton. MEYER WERFT GmbH.
  8. Web site: Meyer Werft baut größte Dockhalle der Welt. 2008-01-18 . Spiegel Online. 2009-06-25.
  9. Web site: Press Release. MEYER WERFT GmbH.
  10. Web site: Valtio ja Meyer Werft ostavat Turun telakan - kauppahinta ei julkinen. Turun Sanomat.
  11. Web site: Press Release. MEYER WERFT GmbH.
  12. https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/oldenburg_ostfriesland/Meyer-Werft-beginnt-mit-Stahlarbeiten-fuer-Offshore-Plattform,meyerwerft1760.html
  13. https://www.amprion.net/Presse/Presse-Detailseite_69632.html
  14. https://hansa-online.de/2024/07/offshore-2/234114/meyer-24/
  15. https://www.noz.de/lokales/papenburg/artikel/trotz-krise-meyer-werft-startet-bau-von-plattform-fuer-windkraft-47338795
  16. Web site: Schade . Gerd . 2024-07-04 . Energiewende: „Historischer Tag“ auf der Meyer Werft in Papenburg NOZ . 2024-07-31 . noz.de . de.
  17. Web site: Neues Geschäft für Papenburger Meyer Werft: Bau von Konverterstationen - buten un binnen . 2024-07-31 . www.butenunbinnen.de . de.
  18. Web site: Start of Production for Converter Platform . 2024-07-31 . MEYER WERFT . en.
  19. Web site: Assies . Christoph . 2024-07-09 . Neuer Auftrag für die Meyer Werft . 2024-07-31 . Crucero - Das Kreuzfahrtmagazin . de-DE.

External links