Bernd Eikens, Chairman of the Management Board at Meyer Werft, left the company on 30 June. His successor will be André Walter, who is joining from Airbus.
The succession was announced at the end of last year, and it is now taking place. Eikens, who joined the management board of Meyer Werft in Papenburg in 2023, is retiring. His successor, Walter, has taken over the role of CEO with effect from today, 1 July. He will now lead the company alongside Ralf Schmitz (Chief Restructuring Officer) and Jörg Heidelberg (Chief Operating Officer).
Walter, aged 59, joins from the European aerospace group Airbus. There, he had served as Chairman of the Management Board of Airbus Aerostructures GmbH and Airbus GmbH in Hamburg since 2022. Born in Oldenburg, he began his career at Airbus in 2006, holding various technical and managerial positions. Among other roles, the engineer headed the Airbus sites in Bremen and Hamburg.
Bernd Eikens had steered Meyer Werft through the economic crisis in 2024. Today, the company has stabilised and is successfully on the path to recovery, as the shipyard announced on the occasion of the handover. The measures are expected to continue until 2028. Eikens’ tenure as CEO saw successful ship deliveries, including the cruise ships ‘Asuka III’ (winner of the HANSA ‘Ship of the Year’ Award 2026) and “Disney Destiny”, as well as several river cruise ships for Viking built by the subsidiary Neptun Werft in Rostock-Warnemünde. In addition to the shipbuilding projects, Eikens also “implemented important internal initiatives” aimed at improving processes and cost efficiency.
“The Supervisory Board would like to thank Dr Bernd Eikens for the outstanding work he has done over the past three years,” said Christian von Lenthe, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Meyer Werft. “He took over the company during its most severe crisis and stabilised it with calm and clear-headedness. The fact that the group now once again has such excellent prospects is due in no small part to his efforts. We wish him all the best for his well-deserved retirement. At the same time, we welcome Dr André Walter on board our company.”
Walter: “Can build on successes”
“I am very much looking forward to working with the teams in Papenburg and at our subsidiary Neptun Werft in Rostock,” said the new CEO, Walter. “In doing so, I can build on the successes that have already been achieved since the restructuring began in 2024 – whether in the order pipeline, in internal processes or in the further development of the corporate culture.”
Eikens himself described his three years at Meyer Werft as challenging, but ultimately successful. “As a native of Papenburg, it has always been a matter close to my heart to help ensure that this company – which is so important for the region and for Germany as an industrial hub as a whole – turns things around for the better,” he said. “I am grateful that we have succeeded in doing so.”
“On behalf of the works council and the entire workforce of all the companies concerned, we would like to thank Mr Eikens for his trusting cooperation and wish him all the best for his retirement,” said Andreas Hansen, Chairman of the Group Works Council at Meyer Werft. “We are confident that, together with his successor André Walter, we will be able to tackle the challenges ahead for our colleagues.”
Walter takes over the helm of the shipyard with a well-filled order book featuring newbuilds for Disney Cruise Line and Carnival Cruise Line. Even after that, there is likely to be plenty of work to be done in Papenburg: Cruise operator MSC Cruises and Meyer Werft recently announced that negotiations regarding four to six new ‘New Frontier’ class ships are at an advanced stage. The total value of the contract is around €10 billion and will keep the shipyard busy until 2035.
