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Shipyard site in Stralsund: Will a buyer be found for all MV Werften - or will they be broken up?
Photo: Stefan Sauer / dpa
The most pressing problem for the approximately 1900 employees of MV Werften seems to have been solved: They should receive their December wages by Monday at the latest, announced the provisional insolvency administrator Christoph Morgen at a staff meeting in Wismar.
According to works council member Ines Scheel, around 700 employees from the site attended the meeting.
Further staff meetings are planned in Rostock and Stralsund during the course of the day.
On Monday, bankruptcy was filed for MV Werften.
The parent company Genting Hong Kong has got into trouble with its cruise business as a result of the ongoing corona pandemic.
After the major shipyard crises of the nineties, several shipbuilding locations are again threatened - apart from the MV shipyards in Wismar, Rostock and Stralsund, the Lloyd shipyard in Bremerhaven has also filed for insolvency.
It is also part of the Genting Group.
What will become of the almost completed billion dollar ship?
After the staff meeting, manager Morgen said he was trying to secure the hoped-for further construction of the cruise liner "Global One" in Wismar.
The ship is 75 percent ready and will cost 1.5 billion euros.
On Friday he will hold a conversation with top representatives from the parent company.
It was unclear whether Genting, to whose needs the ship was tailored, could finance the purchase.
There are very few other customers in the world who could be considered for such a ship.
With space for almost 10,000 passengers, it is one of the largest cruise ships in the world.
According to MV Werften managing director Carsten Haake, Genting's chairman, Lim Kok Thay, expressed interest in the ship last Sunday.
But Genting is in big trouble himself.
Genting shares plunge 56 percent
After the bankruptcy of MV Werften, the Genting Group's share collapsed when trading resumed this Thursday.
By the close of trading in Hong Kong, the price loss was 56 percent.
Trading was suspended last Friday due to the unclear situation at MV Werften.
The Asian tourism group bought the shipyards in 2016 to build cruise ships for their own needs.
Genting operates ships under the brands Star Cruises, Dream Cruises and Crystal Cruises as well as Resorts World Manila (RWM).
However, the pandemic had put the business in trouble.
Behind the company is a conglomerate of the Malaysian casino magnate and billionaire Lim Kok Thay.
The MV Werften could be smashed
According to von Morgen, the insolvency proceedings for MV Werften are expected to open on March 1st.
So initially there were seven weeks left to clarify the most pressing questions.
It is also about long-term prospects.
According to him, there is an idea in Stralsund to develop a maritime business park on the shipyard site.
At other locations, the construction of offshore wind power platforms is being considered.
According to the manager Morgen, it is not yet clear whether the MV Werften will be retained as a whole - or whether they will be sold individually.
The chances of finding someone for the whole thing are smaller than winning prospects for the individual locations, he said.
Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig assured political support.
It will not work without the federal government, said the SPD politician in the direction of Berlin.
The state parliament in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will also deal with the bankruptcy applications for MV Werften at noon in an emergency meeting.
As a spokesman announced, the parliament is advising at the request of the state government, which wants to submit a report.
Left-wing finance politician Victor Perli also called for the federal government to support employees.
“The federal government must not let the shipyard workers down.
It has to support the states of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Bremen in securing their locations and realigning the shipyards, ”he said.
Schwesig said on Wednesday: "The bankruptcy process is bitter, especially for the employees, because they can build excellent ships and are not to blame for it."
apr / dpa