Page 27: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 2012)

These are the pictures which are going around the world on the occasion of towing again an enormous cruise ship out of the covered building docks and pull it in high precision work via the very narrow inland waterway across the grassland of the river Ems towards the open ocean. These pictures brings the city of Papenburg, with its 35.000 residents, into focus. The pictures are unreal as well as fascinating. With its periodical rerun, always then, when a new cruise ship leaves the Meyer Werft of Papenburg, they are burnt into the memory as a kind of an icon of the new ultra-modern Northwest. Who are the people of the Meyer Werft and what makes them so effective? The company Meyer Werft GmbH in Papenburg on the river Ems was founded in 1795, and has been owned by the Meyer family for six generations. Bernard Meyer is managing partner at the helm of this well-established shipyard. The president likes it to be reserved. He wears a dark blue jacket, typical east Frisian, he drinks tea and drives an Audi. But not an eye-catching one. Don?t make a great play ? particularly of one?s own. Only the maritime golden button on his jacket twinkle a bit treasonous. Over the past few decades Meyer Werft has earned an excellent reputation in the construction of special-purpose ships ? and this throughout the world. Long- standing experience in the construction of passenger vessels gained in the 80s has been the basis for a successful entry to the market of large, modern cruise ships. To date the shipyard has delivered 32 luxury liners of different tonnages to customers all over the world. The latest highlight was the delivery of the 122,000-gt giant Celebrity Silhoutte to Celebrity Cruises (Miami) in July 2011in Eemshaven/Netherland. The Celebrity Silhoutte is the fourth ship out of a series of five cruise ships the shipyard is building for Celebrity Cruises. Highly energy-efficient systems, a solar power system, optimized hydrodynamics, a very efficient underwater hull coating and an energy-saving lighting system using LEDs cuts back the ship?s energy demand considerably. Very soon the next transfer and delivery was in preparation: Mid January 2012 the Disney Fantasy leaves the covered building docks and end of the month the new luxury cruise liner went on his very difficult delivery voyage via the Ems towards the Northsea for several day?s seatrails. Meanwhile, the Meyer Crew as- sembles the next cruise liner ? the AIDAmar. Delivery has been scheduled for Q2 2012.Today, with its approx. 2,500 employees, Meyer Werft is one of the biggest employers in the region. In the family-owned company more than 300 appren- tices are trained in 12 different professions. Over and above this enterprise co- operates with about 2,000 suppliers, which ensures employment in regional companies and beyond. Ralf Sempf, head of materials management and purchasing of Meyer Werft: ?Approximately 800 suppliers are involved in the building of a cruise ship. Our own share of the cost of building these highly complex vessels is only about 25% nowadays - the equipment suppliers account for around 75% of the cost of building a new cruise ship. As well as procurement directly related to the ship, we also work with many more suppliers, more than 20,000 companies, who pro- vide us with goods and services.? Peter Hackmann, head of Corporate Communications, adds: ?With two club ships for AIDA Cruises, one post-PanMax ship (122,000 gt) for Celebrity Cruises, one 130,000-gt ship for Disney Cruise Line, two 143,500-gt ships for Norwegian Cruise Line and two cruise ships (158,000 gt) for Royal Caribbean International, the shipyard's order book now includes eight cruise ships which will all have been completed by 2015. We are currently one of the world mar- ket leader in the cruise ship segment, with a market share of around 38%. We also have a technically sophisticated gas carrier on our order books. The order book of Neptun Werft, an affiliated company of the yard, also includes, among other vessels, 10 river cruise ships and one research vessel. The total order book value of the group is currently around EUR 5 billion.? Dreamliner from Germany?s Northwest Craved Around the World February 2012www.marinelink.com 27MR Feb.12 # 4 (26-33):MR Template 2/6/2012 1:02 PM Page 27