By
Elly Yates-Roberts |
Shipyard group MV Werften is to acquire German ship designer Neptun Ship Design. The two firms will now put their long history of cooperation to work, developing and designing complex vessels together.
Rostock-based Neptun will become an independent subsidiary of MV Werften, providing design services for the shipyard group. Neptun’s workforce will add to the group’s own designers in Wismar, Rostock and Stralsund and a network of designers throughout Europe, increasing the total team at Werften by 120 experts.
“We welcome the acquisition and the new, experienced colleagues in our team,” said Peter Fetten, CEO of MV Werften. “We are very familiar with their expertise from our intensive cooperation in the past. We appreciate one another, so we are all the more pleased about the new member of our family.”
MV Werften is currently working on one of the Global Class ships that will be operated by Dream Cruises, as well as Crystal Cruises’ expedition ship, Crystal Endeavor. The new engineers and designers will focus their efforts on the basic design of new ship projects.
“We are proud of our development to date, but it is now time to take on the challenges involved with the engineering required for the most advanced passenger ships in the world, as well as the entire current and future product portfolio of MV Werften,” said Stephan Merkel, managing director at Neptun Ship Design.
“The acquisition also takes into consideration the handling of current orders and the continuation of our research and ship development projects so that we maintain our traditions and our spirit of innovation,” said Merkel. “That we’ll now be doing this under a new roof and with direct participation in the mega-projects is a real boost to our motivation.”