Partner yards positive after Nobiskrug insolvency

In a joint statement, German Naval Yards Kiel (GNYK) and the nearby Lindenau Werft said they regretted the Nobiskrug insolvency, announced Monday. However the statement stressed it “has no negative impact on the activities of GNYK and Lindenau which both carry out separate and independent businesses”.

All three yards have co-operated on projects in the past. As GNYK spokesman Heiko Landahl-Gette told The Motorship, all are also members of the international shipbuilding group Privinvest. However they remain independent, German-registered limited companies, he stressed.

Nobiskrug filed for insolvency citing “critical developments” in its mega yacht building business. It said the developments had had negative effects on its investment potential and profitability and were also affected by the Covid pandemic.

The continuing pandemic in particular had made the situation worse because the yard had lost orders and had also “had to live for a long time with the consequences of earlier management decisions”, it said without elaboration. It added that “recent cancellations and an uncertain future had made the decision to file for insolvency unavoidable”.

Nobiskrug cut 120 jobs last year. Reports said the yard’s 330 remaining jobs are covered for three months as receivers now investigate restructuring possibilities. Rendsburg metal workers’ trade union head Martin Bitter said the problem was liquidity not a lack of orders and urged a new start for the yard.

Bitter urged both shareholder and federal state help for Nobiskrug to restructure. German media also noted that similar Covid-motivated restructuring efforts are already in place at other leading German yards like Meyer Werft, MV Werften and Flensburger (FSG).

Nobiskrug is one of Germany’s oldest established shipyards. Located in Rendsburg on the Kiel Canal it has built more than 750 ships since it was founded in 1905. The construction of mega yachts of over 60m is a relatively recent specialisation and has earned the yard a global reputation.

Whatever the future holds for Nobiskrug, its Privinvest partner yards believe that “the outlook for GNYK and Lindenau iremains positive despite the crisis-related problems”.

The joint statement said naval orders remained the backbone of GNYK activity. Lindenau it said was modernising its repair dock and setting ten further companies as it “consistently pursues the development of the site into a maritime business park”.

That appeared to be new thinking. Just last October Nobiskrug reported plans to expand the capacity and capabilities of its yacht newbuild and refit business to include Lindenau Werft.

It said Nobiskrug “continues to see high demand for new build projects and large refits despite the global economic impact of Covid-19 in 2020”.