Cruise ship builder MV Werften has received a 193-million-euro loan to complete the Crystal Endeavor for delivery and keep the shipyard operations going till March 2021. The loan is provided by the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the Federal authorities.

All the funds from the loans will be used in Germany for MV Werften´s shipyards. ‘It is due to the impact of Covid-19 that stopped the world’s cruise fleet, including GHK, that MV Werften has to turn to the State and Federal Government for support under the WSF, which had been established by the German Government to assist industries impacted by COVID-19,’ states Carsten Haake, Chief Financial Officer of MV Werften.

Shipyard for Genting

Genting Hong Kong (GHK), the parent company of MV Werften, has invested about 2 billion euros in the shipyards and the construction in progress of the Global Dream and Crystal Endeavor. The company has 3000 direct employees in the state plus thousands of indirect jobs in the cruise shipbuilding supply chain and the local economies of Wismar, Rostock and Stralsund.

GHK has ordered and taken delivery of 22 cruise ships built in Germany, almost half of Germany’s output from 1996 for the cruise brands which were under its control. In 2016, GHK bought the yard group, previously known as Nordic Yards – and named it as a homage to the state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern “MV Werften” – in order to build ships for its three cruise brands as the orderbook from existing shipyards were full and the earliest delivery was 7 years into the future. It chose to do so, because Nordic Yards has built the first two AIDA cruise ships and cruise ferries.

‘GHK is an exemplary investor and fully relies on German management in the operations of MV Werften. We are very appreciative of the very significant investment, probably one of the largest made in Germany, and the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs for Germany and the EU,’ says Peter Fetten, the Chief Executive Officer. ‘MV Werften built four luxurious river ships for Crystal Cruises and they have been rated the best river ships in Europe. We are now completing the Crystal
Endeavor, which will again be the most luxurious polar class expedition yacht in the world for Crystal Cruises,’ he adds.

GHK cruise ships are mainly deployed in Asia and Dream Cruises, one of its brands, is the world’s first cruise ship to start ocean destination cruises in Taiwan since July 26.

Genting starts cruises again in November

On 8 October, Genting announced that the World Dream, built in Germany, will restart domestic cruising on 6th November. This will be followed by Genting Dream starting cruises in Hainan and China in mid-November. GHK had two Star Cruises ships chartered to the Singapore Government to accommodate post-Covid patients without any incidents. GHK’s is one of few companies which did not have any Covid-19 cases on any of its cruise ships and is the first cruise line to receive the CIP-M certification by DNV GL for infection prevention, including Covid-19, for the marine industry.

Picture: The Crystal Endeavor was undocked in December 2019 (by MV Werften).