German shipbuilding is doing well. The order books of almost all domestic shipyards are filled until 2020. For the first time in years, more projects are in the pipeline than the yards can handle. Cooperation is key to guarantee success in this environment. By Frank Behling
In the process of finding common ground, medium-sized companies are teaming up to join forces. The most recent example[ds_preview] is the cooperation of Fassmer and German Naval Yards in Kiel for the construction of research vessel »Atair« which is also designed for surveys and wreck search.
The 74m ship’s keel was laid at the Kiel shipyard. In 2019 it will be transferred to the Fassmer shipyard on the Weser river where commissioning will be prepared in spring 2020. »Of course we are often asked why we have the ship built in Kiel,« says shipyard boss Harald Fassmer and immediately refers to the corporate identity as a medium-sized company. »The newly built vessel’s size could not have been realised at our yard in Berne. We had the choice of building a new multi-million euro ship-lift or finding a partner. And so we are now laying keel in Kiel,« Fassmer explains.
As for resort ship »Helgoland«, the shipyard had previously been in search of a production site. The hull/shell construction for »Helgoland« was manufactured in Poland. »Atair« is not just about building a shell. »Consequently, we are very happy that we have found German Naval Yards in Kiel as a very reliable and competent partner,« says Fassmer.
»We will also equip the ship in Kiel and install essential components there,« says Project Manager Christian Schmidt. »I try to be on location in Kiel at least once a week,« the Fassmer engineer says. To be present frequently is a fast task at a distance of 250km. In a shipyard in Eastern or Southern Europe, a complete team would have to stay on site creating relevant costs. Like his boss, Schmidt is also enthusiastic about the conditions in Kiel. »We find everything we need here,« says the engineer. The shipyard provides large cranes, halls and the equipment of the sections can largely be done in the halls. »Of course that makes our job easier and ensures high quality,« explains Schmidt. The capital of Schleswig-Holstein once was the starting point of his professional career. After his studies at the University of Applied Sciences Kiel he completed his first professional years in Kiel. Then he changed for Fassmer, and now he has become an expert for everything related to LNG. He implemented a liquefied natural gas solution for the propulsion of »Helgoland«. This is why his boss Harald Fassmer also put the next projects under his supervision, which turned out a success: Fassmer was awarded by the German Federal Government to build the »Atair«. The novel research vessel will also get a propulsion concept based on LNG. Quite few shipbuilders already have the competence for this type of fuel. Fassmer entered the bidding process and won. The order volume amounts to some 114 mill. . There was a catch: The production capacity in Berne was exhausted. Three boats for the Federal Police, several projects for offshore companies as well as the maritime search and rescue vessels of the DGzRS are already filling the halls until the end of the decade.
There are already more projects for the Fassmer-GNY cooperation. »We can easily imagine to realise further common projects soon,« says Fassmer, addressing that the Federal Government is the largest shipping company with 600 vessels in Germany. While the keel of »Atair« was laid, Monika Breuch-Moritz, President of the German Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency BSH also made it clear that today’s »Atair« already has two sisters called »Wega« and »Deneb«. »We will have to take care of a replacement for these vessels,« she says. In concrete terms, other newbuildings are also on the agenda. The German Customs will award the first major new construction project featuring an LNG drive this year. The Federal Ministry of Research is preparing the tender for the replacement of the research ships »Meteor« and »Poseidon«, while the Directorate General for Waterways and Shipping (GDWS) will award the construction of two multi-purpose vessels to replace »Scharhörn« and »Mellum« this year. LNG is also intended as the fuel of the future for these units.
»In addition, the newbuilding turned out to be too large,« says yard director Harald Fassmer. It quickly became clear that a partner had to be found. When building »Atair«, Fassmer thus decided in favor of a national partnership. »Projects of this magnitude pose a big challenge. That’s why it is important to have good and smoothly functioning cooperation,« Fassmer says. Both companies are medium-sized but with very different structures and production capacities. For example, German Naval Yards features a building dock of 426m with no limits during construction. Fassmer offers the expertise of a specialist shipyard and can handle even complex jobs reliably and on a tight schedule.
Lürssen shipyard pioneered this type of cooperation. In 2004, this yard started work on »Octopus« with HDW as a shipyard partner located in Kiel. Abeking & Rasmussen from Lemwerder has also used a Baltic shipyard as a workbench so far. In 2015, the Bremen shipyard had the 98m hull for mega-yacht »Aviva« built in Flensburg and then transferred to the Weser.
Shipyard Meyer Werft is Germany’s number one in cooperative shipbuilding. Located in in Papenburg, Rostock and Turku, Germany’s largest shipyard has now become a group. For example, Meyer designed newbuilding »Sonne« in Papenburg and built it in Rostock. Today, Meyer has the sections with LNG propulsion technology for the new Carnival ships built in Rostock and towed to Papenburg and Turku. In order to coordinate these projects at the three locations, Meyer has replaced the road by air as a means of transport. For quite some time now, Meyer shipyard has transformed into an aircraft owner. Up to three planes fly engineers and managers back and forth between the sites. The flagship of the Meyer Airline is a Citation jet with seven seats based at airfield Leer-Papenburg. Other aircraft will be chartered when needed. The air connection enables employees of large projects to commute between locations in less than two hours. This is important for the seven newbuildings of the Carnival Group, of which three are being built in Papenburg for Aida and P & O and four ships in Turku for the Costa and Carnival brands. Meyer Turku has the capacity to deliver newbuildings all-season, according to customer preference. At the home location Papenburg, the shipyard is bound to specifications during the transfer on the river Ems which allot only limited time slots.
