Cassens Werft gets reprieve

While management will not change and all 70 employees will be kept on, the company will be concentrating on restructuring and changing its focus. Cassens’ managing director, Christian Hohagen, said that the company would focus on the construction and repair of specialist vessels such as small, high-quality cruise ships and also enter the market of manufacturing heavy steel products. Due to the excellent location of the Cassens shipyard in the seaport of Emden with direct rail and motorway connections, the so-called ‘heavy-duty steel’ at the shipyard would fit well into the company’s business portfolio.

Hohagen said that despite the company’s cash-flow issues, the company has been active for the past two years. The yard is scheduled to deliver a newbuilding to Enercon for the transportation of wind turbines. Named

E-Ship 1

, this diesel powered vessel will be fitted with four large Flettner rotors to achieve a claimed fuel savings of 30 to 40 percent.