German shipbuilder MV Werften's fate may be decided on Monday as owner Genting Hong Kong and the government try to thrash out a rescue plan.
Germany's state finance committee will hold a special meeting in the afternoon to discuss how to proceed.
Cruise ship giant Genting believes the federal government has to save the three shipyards, which are building 11 vessels worth billions of dollars for the company.
"To drop the shipyards now would be the biggest economic mistake the federal government could make," said Genting president Colin Au on Sunday in Wismar, according to the NDR website.
The workforce has been cut by 1,000 people over the last year as the cruise ship crisis continued to bite.
Wages for the remaining 2,000 staff have not been paid for the last month.
MV Werften has said it has $34m of cash available, but legal restrictions are preventing the payment to employees.
The federal government is said to be ready to provide further assistance, but wants a substantial contribution from Genting, which has been refinancing during the cruise slump.
Cash needed
The yard is awaiting €600m ($680m) in a grant from the government's Economic Stabilisation Fund to finish a ship called Global 1.
The ministry of economic affairs has asked Genting to come up with €60m itself. The yard owner has offered €41m.
The government's maritime coordinator, Claudia Muller, was cited as saying: "We appeal to the owners to give in and to make an appropriate contribution of their own in order to do everything together to save the more than 1,900 jobs."
Genting has invested more than €2bn in the yards since acquiring them in 2016.
