NYK Enters New Cruise Ship Construction Contract With Meyer Werft

A small ship for Japan – a big signal for shipbuilding in Papenburg! The major Japanese group NYK and MEYER WERFT have signed a contract for the construction of a new cruise ship. Noteworthy: MEYER WERFT was the first shipyard in the world to succeed in this because since the beginning of the pandemic, no shipping company has placed a new construction order for a cruise ship. The listed NYK Group is one of the largest shipping companies in the world and is now placing orders in Papenburg for the first time through a joint venture.

An important signal for the Papenburg location of MEYER WERFT with the largest roofed building dock in the world, even if the new building with a length of 229 meters (51,950 GT) is relatively small.

New construction contract as an important step in securing the location

“It is another, very important step in securing the Papenburg location. For our current future program with enormously important savings and many different measures, new orders are absolutely necessary ”, says Jan Meyer, Managing Director of MEYER WERFT.

nyk_yokohama - New construction contract for MEYER WERFT — Image Credits: meyerwerft.de

“In this extremely difficult global market situation and global competition, we were able to win our new customer from Japan as a new customer with the best ship concept, innovations, quality and what we consider to be a very challenging price. I would like to thank the entire workforce and especially the Sales & Design department, who did a great job during this tense phase. It is the first order in the 226-year history of the shipyard in which all contract documents and plans were drawn up and negotiated in the context of video conferences.

Shipping companies can freely select shipyard locations worldwide

Imke Knoop, Head of Sales & Design: “Due to the pandemic, shipping companies all over the world are free to choose where to ship yards. With our combination of conception, quality, innovation and, of course, constantly increasing price pressure, we have to survive against global, sometimes heavily subsidized, competition. The order comes just in time, so far there has only been one new building in our halls for 2025. ”

The new order is an important addition in 2025, but from 2021 to 2025 the capacity utilization at MEYER WERFT will still remain at a lower level

“Of course we are happy about the new building order, at the same time we have to push our future program, further convert and optimize the shipyard so that we can deliver the ship economically successful”, explains Thomas Weigend, Managing Director of MEYER WERFT. With this order, we will now have a second ship in the works in 2025, namely a small and a large ship. But the fact remains that we still have a lot of work to do in 2025. Our production in Papenburg is designed for an annual construction volume of 420,000 GT, but the two ships in 2025 only have a total volume of 182,000 GT. ”

“The current new building contract is not a U-turn from our difficult situation, but a great help,” adds Jan Meyer. “Now we are building the prototype of a small ship with no option on sister ships. Therefore it is to be classified as a further step in addition to many necessary measures. At the same time, this is a great signal: It is a completely new customer for MEYER WERFT, we have prevailed against global competition in a global market. ”

The new building for the NYK Group is to be delivered in 2025. MEYER WERFT will also install an LNG drive here. This modern and currently most environmentally friendly technology for cruise ships was successfully used for the first time in 2018 by MEYER WERFT as a global innovation for complete ship propulsion. MEYER WERFT is also implementing numerous tailor-made solutions for the current new order. This includes hydrodynamics optimized according to the planned routes as well as on-board facilities that are adapted to the needs of Japanese passengers and, as a result of the pandemic, also offer innovations in air conditioning systems and contactless controls.

Major corporation NYK employs more than 37,000 people and has 700 ships

The NYK Group with more than 37,000 employees is one of the largest shipping companies in the world and is primarily active in the container, ro-ro market and logistics with 700 ships. The current cruise ship of the NYK Line is the Asuka II, which was delivered by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Japan) in 1990 and, as Japan’s largest cruise ship, serves a premium and luxury segment.

Despite the pandemic, eight ships have been delivered from the shipyard locations in Papenburg, Rostock and Turku (Finland) in the past twelve months.