By
Rebecca Gibson |
The German shipyard Lloyd Werft, based in Bremerhaven, has become recognised as one of Europe’s principal yards, not only for major conversions but also for refits and repairs of all descriptions.
“Lloyd Werft is internationally known as one of the best and most reliable yards for cruise ship drydocking and refits,” says CEO Rüdiger Pallentin. “During a docking period we always maintain a very close relationship between the cruise ship operator and our experienced technical staff, who plan the yard times of the ships in advance so that nothing is left to chance. The quality of our workmanship is the byword to our success and maintaining our reputation for delivering on time and at the right price is of paramount importance. It is also vital to have the capacity to carry out unexpected additional work as and when it arises.”
Pallentin says the company’s know-how is its greatest strength and, judging by the considerable number of repeat orders, clearly many of the company’s prestigious customers must consider that to be true.
One of the major conversion contacts undertaken this year and which is still ongoing is the conversion of the cruise ship Arcadia, operated by P&O Cruises, part of Carnival UK. At the end of the year, Arcadia will leave Lloyd Werft with a new deck house on Deck 10, which will provide 23 more cabins and a suite, as well as a new sun deck. This is the second time in five years that P&O Cruises has entrusted Arcadia to the German yard for updating and conversion.
A significant new customer is the cruise ship operator AIDA, which sent AIDAbella to the yard for a short refit. When the 69,203 gt cruise liner arrived on 2 April to spend nine days in the big Kaiser Dock, it was the first time that a ship belonging to the large AIDA fleet had called at Lloyd Werft for technical work.
AIDAbella is 251.5 m long with a 32.2 m beam and carries more than 2,000 passengers. She is one of the biggest luxury cruise liners in the AIDA fleet.
Although the work carried out on the vessel was not extensive, the significance of the visit is not lost on Lloyd Werft. “AIDA Cruises is a new customer for us and it does not matter how big the job is,” says Pallentin. After all, the other nine cruise liners belonging to the company are also of a size which can be handled by the yard.
Looking ahead, cruise liners are likely to continue to provide an important part of Lloyd Werft’s business. It is in this sector especially that the yard has earned its outstanding reputation internationally over nearly 40 years and there are no plans to change this in future.
This article appeared in the Autumn/Winter 2013 edition of International Cruise & Ferry Review. To read the full article, you can subscribe to the magazine in printed or digital formats.