Meyer Werft is adopting a new structure, involving a dedicated subsidiary, to expand its business in offshore converter platforms. This is intended to ease the workload on its subsidiary shipyard, Neptun.
“We are creating the organisational and legal framework for the successful development of the offshore converter business,” announced the Papenburg-based shipbuilder. To this end, all relevant activities of the group will be consolidated into a separate company, Neptun Offshore GmbH & Co. KG, in the coming weeks. This company will also hold the 50% stake in the joint venture Neptun Smulders Offshore Renewables (NSORe), based in Rostock.
The group has high hopes for this business segment. Meyer Werft itself, for example, acts as a subcontractor to the Spanish company Dragados, supplying steel components for converter platforms.
This year, NSOR finally made its entry into the converter business with a contract from the grid operator 50Hertz for the construction of two converter platforms in the North Sea (LanWin3 and LanWin6). The total contract value for NSOR’s share of the two installations amounts to around €2.5 billion, a large proportion of which will be spent on production and services in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, not least at the Neptun shipyard.
It appears that those involved are encountering administrative hurdles: “However, converter construction involves different technical and regulatory requirements to shipbuilding. These differences relate, for example, to the materials required, lead times, testing systems and IT systems, as well as the financing structure,” states the press release explaining the rationale behind the initiative.
Neptun Offshore GmbH & Co. KG will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Meyer Werft GmbH. The CEO is Malte Poelmann, who, together with Dieter Weyns, is already a managing director of NSORe.
André Walter, CEO of Meyer Werft, said: “We want to establish the optimal organisational structures for this new business segment by the time construction of the first converter platform begins in 2028. By setting up an independent company, we will achieve clear structures and lines of responsibility whilst avoiding inefficient processes and higher costs. This will also allow Neptun Werft to continue to focus fully on its core business – the construction of river cruise ships and floating engineering modules.”
Malte Poelmann, CEO of Neptun Offshore, emphasised: “We are now also giving the go-ahead, in terms of company law, for the new offshore converter business segment, through which we aim to play an important role in Germany’s energy transition. At the same time, we are already working flat out to build up our teams, which will deliver the planned growth from 2028 onwards.”
According to official statements, the restructuring is not expected to have any impact on the value creation anticipated at the Rostock site through the development of the converter business. Meyer Werft continues to anticipate that the first two orders from 50Hertz alone will create up to 1,000 new jobs in the region, both directly and indirectly.
