The “Global Dream” is already painted, on the bow a spaceman flies like Superman over the waves, behind it a red planet with orbit is emblazoned. Butterflies have also made it into the design, yellow and blue, you can get in a good mood when you see the cruise ship that is being built in Wismar. 9500 passengers should enjoy themselves on it once, a roller coaster is also part of the spectacle, which Chinese guests in particular should enjoy: To let yourself be thrown around 55 meters above sea level, that should actually be possible last year, there should the “Global Dream” already set sail. But the time for big dreams is over for now.
On Monday, the MV Werften filed for bankruptcy, as confirmed by the district court in Schwerin. The employees had been informed of this step beforehand. It is probably a direct consequence of the pandemic, over the past two years the shipyard has got into more and more financial difficulties. Last Friday, the employees at the locations in Wismar, Rostock and Stralsund were waiting for their wages.
The Asians join in 2016 – the problems remain
More than 1900 employees in the shipyards in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania earn their living with the construction of the cruise ships; When the Asian group Genting Hong Kong became the owner in 2016, it was a job engine for the East German shipbuilding industry. The main business of Asians is operating casinos and cruise ships – but the entertainment industry has been in crisis mode since the start of the pandemic. The money for the shipyard workers flowed slowly and cautiously – or not at all. Until recently the MV Werften could not secure the financing of the “Global Dream” – project name Global 1 – with 1.5 billion euros it is one of the largest and most expensive cruise ships in the world.
No rescue seems possible: Shipyard boss Carsten Haake (left) and Genting President Colin Au (second from left) inform in Wismar about the situation of MV Werften.
(Photo: Frank Hormann / dpa)
The future of the shipyards had recently become a political issue – the federal government had promised support of around 600 million euros, financed from the economic stabilization fund, which was set up in the pandemic to save companies and jobs. The “Global Dream” was supposed to be used as security in the case of MV Werften, but it always seemed questionable whether and how much money would flow from the owner Genting Hong Kong.
The federal and state governments negotiated with MV Werften and the owner on Friday about the situation that the Genting Group should have contributed around 60 million euros in equity plus guarantees. But even over this comparatively small amount the negotiations failed. There are different views on the reasons. MV Werften managing director Carsten Haake last said that the federal requirements were met. From the President of Genting Hong Kong, Colin Au, it was heard that the group had submitted four offers to the federal government for financing, but they were rejected.
However, the owner had not recently maneuvered himself into an advantageous position with his approach and presented rather undiplomatically. Before the turn of the year, Genting had sued the state government in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: they wanted to force the immediate disbursement of an auxiliary loan in the amount of 78 million euros. Support for the shipyards with 300 million euros had already been approved by the Ministry of Economic Affairs in the summer, and the new negotiations concerned the design of the overall package.
It is unclear how things will go on with the employees at the three locations. 1,000 permanent positions had already been cut last year. And how things will go on with the “Global Dream” is also not certain: the ship is 75 percent complete.