Sietas inks ferry

Hamburg-based shipyard Sietas Werft has signed a newbuilding contract with Föhr-based ferry operator Wyker Dampfschiffs-Reederei. The vessel will be able to carry about 1,200 passengers and 75 cars and will be employed on services to the North Frisian Islands.

“This order is very important for Sietas, because it is a first step in a new direction,” Sietas said in a statement. To date, the company has concentrated on the construction of container ships. Due to the lack of new orders and cancellations, the yard is suffering from a reduced orderbook and is expecting major losses in 2008 and 2009.

In 2007, Sietas lost ?9m ($11.7m).

In February 2009, owner and managing director Hinrich Sietas handed the reins over to former Airbus manager Rüdiger Fuchs, after shipping bank HSH Nordbank pushed for a change at management level. The bank is pre-financing Sietas’ construction costs and has recently increased lending to the shipyard to ?111m.

The new management announced its intention to concentrate on special-purpose vessels in the future.