The provisional insolvency administrator of MV Werften has shown himself to be able to present short-term solutions for the locations in Stralsund and Bremerhaven. New owners could be presented as early as March or April, said Christoph Morgen on Wednesday in Wismar. The employees at all locations were previously informed about the preliminary insolvency proceedings. Morgen had taken over the procedure two weeks ago.
For the further construction of the cruise ship, which is three quarters finished and cost around 1.5 billion euros Global dream looking for investors with high pressure. Confidentiality agreements have been concluded with several serious interested parties. These interested parties have the know-how, the financial means themselves or have joined forces with other investors. About possible financial consequences in the event that the Global dream cannot be sold, he did not want to comment.
As Morgen surprisingly reported, the previous boss of the insolvent cruise company and MV shipyard owner Genting, Lim Kok Thay, also reported. He might want to buy the ship. “We will have to wait and see whether this can still be represented after the history.” The Genting group filed for bankruptcy last week. The cruise operator got into trouble because of the pandemic.
The federal government had stepped into the breach with guarantees, so-called export credit guarantees, for ships from the MV shipyards. There is therefore a default risk of 900 million euros, said Economics Minister Robert Habeck in the Bundestag. It now depends on whether the insolvency administrator can find a business model for the shipyards. The bankruptcy is hopefully not the end for the shipyards, but the chance for a new beginning, emphasized the Green politician. If this new beginning is successful, the risk of default is averted “through economic activity by the shipyard at the location”. He could imagine that the future of shipyards could lie in the construction of ships with lower CO₂ emissions or with new types of propulsion. Discussions on this should start soon.
Insolvency administrator Morgen According to the shipyards without the pandemic, they would have been working at full capacity for several years. But Corona got them into trouble like the parent company Genting. That is why the concept of closing the shipyard in Wismar without insolvency after the completion of the “Global Dream” was recently pursued at the MV shipyards. “There was a clear closure concept.” Work is currently on hold at all four locations, Morgen said. A total of around 2150 employees are affected, around 250 of them in Bremerhaven.
Because of the insolvency proceedings, at the Global dream not be further developed. The other three shipyards have no orders. It is also not to be expected that a new owner will be found for all four locations.
Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig said that the federal and state governments had set up a working group on the future of the shipyard locations in MV. “It’s about the question of how we can help the shipyards in the short term. But it’s also about what future prospects there are for the locations.” In her own words, the energy transition plays a central role for the SPD politician. “For this we need converter platforms and special ships.”
Insolvency administrator Morgen also sees good prospects for Rostock-Warnemünde. “The location is good and the employees are qualified.” However, there will be an employment gap there due to the lack of orders. “A shipyard is more like a tanker than a speedboat. You don’t find new orders overnight either.”
The head of the general works council, Ines Scheel, described the mood at the four shipyard locations as depressed. “It was clear to everyone that time was short to find a new customer.” Everything is now being done so that the employees who will no longer be employed on March 1st can go to rescue companies. These are not yet fully funded. Like Morgen, Scheel was optimistic that the necessary money could be raised. There are currently no signs of a large wave of emigration among employees.