Rostock, 6 October 2016 – In the course of its celebratory event in the Kurhaus Warnemünde, NEPTUN WERFT honoured its best suppliers for the second time. Three companies that distinguished themselves with outstanding service last year received the award of "Partner des Jahres 2015". More than 140 invited guests took part in the award ceremony.

The three partners receiving the honour won through against 740 companies, of which 191 firms come from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The basis for the award of Partner of the Year is formed within the scope of the supplier assessment regularly conducted by the shipyard as part of supplier management.

The following partners received an award:

• MNR Montagebau Neptun Rostock GmbH
• Ostsesstaal GmbH & Co.KG, Stralsund
• PLANEX Projektierungs GmbH, Aurach

The Managing Directors of NEPTUN WERFT, Bernard Meyer and Raimon Strunck, and employees from the Purchasing department presented the awards to the winners. In their acceptance speeches the winners particularly highlighted the good and cooperative collaboration of the shipyard with its suppliers. Raimon Strunck emphasised: “This honour underlines the importance of the close partnership between us and our suppliers. In the last few years we have built over 65 ships together.”

In the course of the ceremony the management and employees of the Purchasing department also found out about current issues in the shipyard, the issue of supplier management and about the shipbuilding market. The construction of cruise and river cruise ships is a very important branch of the industry. The ships built at NEPTUN WERFT, MEYER WERFT and the shipyard MEYER TURKU in Finland alone provide employment to over 40,000 people directly and indirectly.

Picture from left: Bernard Meyer, Raimon Strunck (both Managing Directors NEPTUN WERFT), Frank Knuth (Purchasing NEPTUN WERFT), Simone Nehls (Ostseestaal), Michael Schultze (Ostseestaal), Gunnar Pallutz, Martina Bolduan (both Purchasing NEPTUN WERFT), Hans-Jürgen Rost (PLANEX), Klaus Lübbers (Purchasing MEYER WERFT), Frank Godewols (MNR) and Tom Neumann (Purchasing NEPTUN WERFT)

Jobs and Growth to 2020 and beyond

2015 was very successful for MEYER WERFT and NEPTUN WERFT with many ships being handed over to their new owners and numerous new orders coming in for the years ahead. The order books for the shipyards in Papenburg, Rostock and Turku feature altogether 28 ships, including among others contracts for building large cruise ships and ferries. The Group's shipyards are therefore the international market leaders for building cruise ships and also lead the national market for civil shipbuilding.

Comprehensive employment was provided in 2015 by the building and completion of six river cruise ships for Viking River Cruises in Rostock, two cruise ships – Anthem of the Seas for Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Escape for Norwegian Cruise Line – in Papenburg together with the cruise ship Mein Schiff 4 for TUI Cruises in Finland.

It was also important for the shipyard that the Master Plan Ems was successfully adopted. "These successful achievements, all our investment and the level of job security that we offer mean that we have more than fulfilled our Site Continuation Agreement with the State of Lower Saxony and the IG Metall trade union", says CEO Bernard Meyer.

The NEPTUN WERFT in Rostock has acquired two further orders for river cruise ships. Furthermore, Neptun has taken a great step into the future with the gas tanker for Anthony Veder, a new ferry for W.D.R. and the decision to be the future production site for engine room modules and blocks for Papenburg and Turku. This production strategy ensures constant utilisation levels and sustainable site continuation.

In 2015, MEYER TURKU handed over Mein Schiff 4 to TUI Cruises, with Mein Schiff 5 following in 2016. Two more ships for TUI Cruises will also be built in 2016 and 2017. Furthermore, two new cruise ships have been ordered in Turku for Costa Crociere. These orders together with the order for a particularly environmentally friendly LNG ferry for the Estonian shipping company AS Tallink offer good prospects for growth and employment. Recently the remaining 30% ownership shares were taken over from the Finnish state.

Successful achievements for the MEYER WERFT included handing over the Anthem of the Seas (168,666 GRT) and the Norwegian Escape (164,400 GRT). AIDA Cruises has been regained as key account customer and has ordered two completely new kinds of ships with LNG propulsion for 2018 and 2020. Other new orders include two sister ships in the Quantum class and two ships for Saga Cruises.

With the Anthem of the Seas and the Norwegian Escape, the shipyard has built and delivered two very large cruise ships each well in excess of 160,000 GRT. "It has once again been a real challenge for the workforce to design these ships and build them in only just about 20 months. Thanks to the commitment and motivation of the employees, we have managed to hand over both ships on time and in technically perfect condition. We will need to keep this motivation going in future too to cope successful with all our major projects over the next few years," says Lambert Kruse, Managing Director of MEYER WERFT.

Eleven cruise ships, eight river cruise ships, a gas tanker and a ferry will be planned, designed and built over the next few years by NEPTUN WERFT and MEYER WERFT, while six cruise ships and a ferry will be built in Turku. These well-filled order books, paired with the consistent implementation of the corporate strategy, give the shipyards very good chances of holding their ground in the fiercely contested international shipbuilding market.

Photo:

Meyer Werft: The new cruise ship Ovation of the Seas in the building dock

Celebratory naming ceremony for the newly built Viking ships in Amsterdam

The naming ceremony for the two river cruisers VIKING BEYLA and VIKING ASTRILD, built by the NEPTUN WERFT shipyard, was held on 24 March. The godmothers of the ships' christening were Ms Adriana Filkaszova and Ms Sinemie Theodora Bakker, both of them long-serving employees of the shipping company.
These are the first ships to be built by NEPTUN WERFT for the particularly demanding Elbe route. VIKING BEYLA and VIKING ASTRILD are now the 59th and 60th river cruisers to be built at the NEPTUN WERFT shipyard in Rostock-Warnemünde since 2002.
The new vessels are the result of a consistent redesign, in which the focus was on reducing the weight of all the components. The objective was to develop a modern river cruiser with a very low draught for use on the Elbe, without forfeiting anything in terms of the comfort and high standards associated with the shipping company. A number of innovative materials were employed to minimise the weight of the ship; this represents the first time that these materials have been encountered in inland shipping in this configuration. All of the components were analysed and constructed for optimum weight characteristics, while several materials had to undergo extensive tests and trials in order to obtain the permit for their use. A large testing area was constructed at the shipyard, in which the new components were tested, and new machining and processing guidelines drawn up.
To ensure that Viking's very high standards would also be satisfied by these passenger ships, know-how gained previously with Viking ships on the rivers of Europe was incorporated in the development of this new ship type.
In the case of the VIKING BEYLA with yard number S. 559, the lead ship development and first-time use of innovative components were funded with innovation aid from the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) and the federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

Main dimensions:

• Length 109.90 m
• Breadth (max.) 11.45 m
• Draught (approx.) 0.95 m
• Draught (max.) 1.15 m
• Height above waterline (approx.) 5.20 m
• Deadweight (approx.) 120 t
• Passenger cabins 49
• Number of passengers (max.) 98
• Crew cabins 18
• Crew size 28 Motors 3 x 588 kW
• Speed approx. 19.0 km/h

Navigable areas:

All major European rivers, although particular consideration was given to the special demands of the Elbe; the ship was designed and built in accordance with the latest regulations and fulfils all current safety and sta

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First LNG tanker with dual-fuel engine for Anthony Veder

Papenburg/Rostock, January 3, 2012 - MEYER WERFT completed today its new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tanker, the CORAL ENERGY, for the Dutch owner Anthony Veder, based in Rotterdam. It is the first ship of a new gas tanker type which is equipped with an eco-friendly dual-fuel engine. The tanker is operated with natural gas bringing the emissions of the vessel to extremely low values which are clearly below the prospective applicable limits for ECA-areas.

The ship was already named in Rotterdam on December 7 by Her Royal Highness Princess Máxima of the Netherlands. This event was perceived as very special by all stakeholders involved in the small to midscale LNG business.

For decades MEYER WERFT has specialized in building gas tankers. 55 gas tankers have been built in the past years. The new tanker built for transporting LNG which is cooled down to minus 161°C has a length of abt. 155 m and a breadth of 22.70 m with a cargo capacity of 15,600 m³ and a maximum speed of 15.80 kn. Fully loaded with LNG the ship will have a draught of 8.20 m. MEYER WERFT will further develop this new propulsion system intensively so that this technology can also be used on passenger ships in the future.

The ship owner Anthony Veder is specialized in transporting gas by seagoing vessels. Its fleet currently consists of more than 25 ships. MEYER WERFT and the Anthony Veder have collaborated in both the new building and the repair sector since the middle of the 1970s.

The ship has proven its seaworthiness during the seal trials when all systems and plants were tested.

Main characteristics CORAL ENERGY