The huge success in the cruiseship market for Meyer Werft, Neptun Werft and MV Werften has not been shared by all German yards, admits German Shipbuilding and Ocean Industries Association (VSM) chief executive Reinhard Luken.
But he still believes that Europe’s largest shipbuilding nation is better positioned than some of its Asian rivals.
“Everyone seems to be doing fairly well. Some yards require more work but most are not that bad,” he says of the situation in Germany.
Navy work is also helping out those yards that are struggling to make it in the merchant shipbuilding market, he points out.
One concern is with the recent success of Chinese yards in capturing ro-ro ferry contracts from European operators — a market that promises much upcoming demand for the European shipbuilding market.
Luken believes the Chinese were bidding at prices that did not cover the material costs of German yards.
“Some German yards did not bother to offer,” Luken says of the tenders.
However, he cautions that many Chinese yards may struggle to make the newbuilding projects commercially viable at the agreed contract price.
VSM has also been promoting the German Maritime Export Initiative (GeMax). The project involves packaging German ship machinery and equipment suppliers for shipbuilding, retrofitting or conversion projects outside Germany along with competitive long-term German export finance from KfW IPEX-Bank.
The initiative is aimed at promoting the German marine equipment industry abroad.
Luken says the project has now got off the ground. “We have succeeded with some projects and we have made good progress but the market is slow and we would like it to be more successful. It is not known enough yet and we also need a bankable project. If it is not a bankable project, we cannot help at all,” he adds.
