German shipbuilder MV Werften has launched construction work on a new hall complex, under an investment of some EUR 80 million (USD 93.8 million).
The future shipbuilding complex, said to be one of the largest company investments in the region in the past decades, will be 385 metres long, 99 metres wide and up to 24 metres high.
The centrepiece will be a semi-automatic panel line, welding panels of up to 25 x 16 meters. The new hall 11 will also house a new section building line and a section outfitting line.
In total, over EUR 100 million will be invested in the Rostock yard within the shipbuilding group’s comprehensive investment programme, about EUR 80 million of this in the new hall.
“With these new facilities we will significantly increase the capacity of our steel prefabrication – and thus increase our productivity too,” Holger Tepper, Chief Operating Office , said.
MV Werften expects to commission the facilities in summer of 2018. The Rostock site will then manufacture 80 large sections per ship of the 342-metre long Global Class mega passenger ships, being built for the Hong Kong-based cruise line Star Cruises.
The two Global Class vessels, which will feature 204,000 tons each, will operate in China and all over Asia. The ocean-going giants are scheduled for delivery in 2020 and 2021.
“With this groundbreaking ceremony, MV WERFTEN is taking the next step in its comprehensive investment programme for the three sites in our federal state. Not only Rostock-Warnemünde, but also the sites in Stralsund and Wismar will profit from this expansion,” Harry Glawe, Minister for Economic Affairs, Employment and Health , said.
“This is a good prospect for the entire maritime industry here in our state,” the Minister added.