A managerial shake-up is taking place at leading European shipyard Meyer Werft.

Brothers Tim and Jan Meyer are to swap roles at the shipbuilders' facilities in Germany and Finland.

The reorganisation is part of a package of measures designed to help the builder of cruiseships meet the challenges of the coronavirus outbreak.

Jan Meyer, who has been chief executive of Finnish shipbuilding facility Meyer Turku since 2014, will take over as managing director of Meyer Werft's main production facility in Papenburg, Germany.

He will swap roles with his younger brother Tim Meyer, who has been managing director of Meyer Werft since 2016, and who will move to Finland in the summer.

Bernard Meyer, their 72-year old father and longtime figurehead of the shipyard, said the rotation of leadership was part of a long-term strategy.

But the "acute situation" caused by the pandemic would require and lead to major changes at all yards, he said.

"As these changes and new structures will be implemented, it is now a good timing to carry out a family internal leadership switch between Jan and Tim,” he said.

His third son, Paul Meyer, remains as chief information officer of the whole group.

Generational change

The move continues a gradual generational change at Meyer Werft which has seen more responsibility handed to the seventh generation of the Meyer family.

But it comes at a challenging time for the Meyer Group, which directly employs around 7,000 people.

The shipbuilder is directly exposed to the downturn in the cruise industry and management is not expecting newbuilding orders for another three years.

So far, the shipyard has not received any request for cancellation of orders, said spokesperson Peter Hackmann.

But he confirmed that the yard is negotiating with its clients to extend delivery of existing cruiseship orders over a longer period of time.

Meyer operates two facilities in Germany, where around 3,600 staff work at its Papenburg facility.

It also has a smaller shipyard in Rostock employing around 700 workers which builds river cruiseships and engine room facilities for cruiseships.

No lay-off have yet been announced at the German shipyards, although talks between unions and management are ongoing.

The biggest hit so far has been borne by the workforce in Turku, where 450 of its 2,386 employees from its Finish facility will be made redundant.

The current crisis is seen as one of the greatest in the history of the shipyard.

But taking the right steps should enable the shipyard to emerge "stronger from the crisis than before," Bernard Meyer said.