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"Global Dream" in a hall of the MV Werften in Wismar: Will the largest cruise ship in the world ever be completed?
Photo: ANNEGRET HILSE / REUTERS
The future of the MV shipyards remains uncertain - and thus also whether the world's largest cruise ship "Global Dream" will be completed in Wismar.
The owner of the insolvent MV Werften, Genting Hong Kong, is considering an application for provisional liquidation to the competent court in Bermuda, as the company has now announced.
This would mean that the parent company of MV Werften itself would be insolvent.
In response to this announcement, trading in Genting shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has been suspended.
The Asian tourism group, which offers cruises, among other things, has gotten into trouble because of the ongoing corona pandemic.
This also affects its subsidiary MV Werften in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where Genting previously had cruise ships built for its own needs.
State government sees itself confirmed
The federal state has been refusing for a month to pay out an aid loan of 78 million euros to Genting that was agreed in the summer.
At the beginning of the week, the district court in Schwerin rejected an urgent application from Genting against the state.
The group was unable to explain an existential emergency in a comprehensible manner, so the reasoning.
The consequences of an application for the preliminary liquidation of Genting for MV Werften are unclear. The preliminary insolvency administrator of MV Werften, Christoph Morgen, would like to have the "Global Dream" built and sell it to Genting, for whose needs it was designed. The ship, which is to accommodate almost 10,000 passengers, is 75 percent complete in the Wismar shipyard. Insolvency administrator Morgen had a spokesman for possible steps by Genting: "We're watching it."
Insolvency had already been applied for on Monday of last week for the MV shipyards with around 2,000 employees. A few days later, on Friday, according to his spokesman, Morgen spoke to top Genting representatives for the last time. The administrator then reported that the atmosphere was good and constructive. Financing solutions will be sought and further talks are planned.
In view of the liquidation considerations at Genting, the state government is of the opinion that it was right not to pay out the loan.
Economics Minister Reinhard Meyer and Finance Minister Heiko Geue (both SPD) said: "The state sees Genting's announcement confirming its skepticism that the loan of 78 million euros would not have been sufficient in the current situation to prevent this development. « The problems caused by the corona pandemic seemed bigger than the promised loan.
The co-governing left made a similar statement.
"The problems are complex, the liquidity gap is obviously much larger," said the parliamentary group leader Jeannine Rösler.
"The fact that Genting Hong Kong has so far not been willing to guarantee acceptance of the "Global Dream" underpins this assessment."
Genting says it will continue to try to raise money in the short term, including a cash reserve of $81 million, which is also part of the cruise ship's financing agreement.
"So far, none of the banks involved has agreed to a payout," the company said.
mamk/dpa-AFX