Hopes raised for former NSW yard in Emden

The German media quotes works council official Erwin Heinke as saying an unidentified investor had made an offer for the firm, which went into receivership in October after parent SIAG Schaaf also reported problems.

No details of the offer were revealed. However several other potential investors, including the Chinese, were also reported to have visited the site of late. At the same time talks were reported on the possible manufacture of offshore wind turbine foundations at SIAG Nordseewerke in an effort to secure the jobs of some 700 employees into next year until a new investor is found. There were also calls to the Berlin Government for interim financial support.

SIAG Nordseewerke used to be the Emder Nordseewerke, one of Germany’s best-known and longest lasting shipyards. Founded in 1903 it built merchant, naval and special ships over the decades and was said to be a viable shipyard employing 1,400 people when ThyssenKrupp sold it in 2010 to SIAG Schaaf Industrie for offshore wind farm turbine construction. The last big ship built at NSW was the 3,414TEU, 42,650dwt container ship Frisia Cottbus for Hartmann Reederei delivered in early 2010 and since renamed Centaurus.

The sale of NSW came as Thyssen shed its shipbuilding interests to help cover billions in parent firm losses. It sold off several other prominent German shipyards as well, among them Blohm + Voss in Hamburg. Shipyard workers in German cities, including Emden and Hamburg demonstrated in their thousands at the time against the sales.

When NSW was sold, Thyssen retained the former repair department of NSW as the new Emder Werft und Dockbetriebe (EWD) which is now the official successor company to NSW. EWD carries out repair, outfitting, retrofit and service and maintenance of merchant and naval vessels.