Wolgast (dpa / mv) – The shipyard group Naval Vessels Lürssen (NVL) has warned that the Navy will not be able to order further corvettes. “Because the Navy and the Bundeswehr are giving up an opportunity to quickly get other ships or boats,” said NVL Managing Director Tim Wagner on Thursday at the Peene shipyard in Wolgast in western Pomerania. So far we only have information from the media. With the temporary cancellation, the navy would leave the potential of series production unused and cause underemployment at shipyards throughout northern Germany.
The media had reported that the Federal Ministry of Defense did not want to finance the third order for the construction of class K130 corvettes after criticism from the Federal Audit Office using the 100 billion euro special fund. In Wolgast, work is currently being carried out on the last aft ship as part of a previous order for five corvettes. The first ship of this second order has already been christened. The five ships from the first order are already in use.
Without the corvette order for the Peene shipyard in the coming year, Wagner sees “a small dent in capacity utilization”. Nevertheless, NVL invests around 15 million euros in the site and builds a roof for the dry dock there. The cornerstone was laid in a ceremony on Thursday. The canopy will also help with the construction of the sterns of new frigates, which is scheduled to begin in Wolgast in the middle of next year. Under the leadership of the Dutch shipyard Damen Shipyards, four frigates of the type F126 are to be built in Germany for several billion euros.
The state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is funding the roofing with 800,000 euros. Economics Minister Reinhard Meyer (SPD) said on Thursday that the state government is committed to naval shipbuilding as the future of shipbuilding in the north-east. “This world is the way it is and that’s why we’re in a time when naval shipbuilding is in demand again,” Meyer said, also referring to the war in Ukraine.
The Lürssen shipyard, which is spread over several locations in northern Germany, reorganized itself in October last year and organizationally separated yacht building and naval ship building. The NVL Group, to which the Wolgast location belongs, is responsible for the latter. According to the company, around 320 employees work at the Peene shipyard, mainly on naval, government and special ships.
