The 1900 employees at MV Werften have been waiting for their outstanding wages for days. The most important order for the shipyards group, which was taken over by the Genting Group in Hong Kong in 2016, is the construction of two global class cruise ships. The starting shot was fired in 2018 for the first project, the “Global Dream”.
The hull, welded together from three ship parts, is located in a weather-protected construction dock at the Wismar site and, according to the shipyard, is 75 percent complete. “The brand new fleet of 208,000 GT ships guarantees world class on the world’s oceans – and will continue to establish Dream Cruises as the most innovative cruise line in Asia,” says the full-bodied version of the MV Werften website.
But years ago the ship, which cost 1.5 billion euros, got into financial difficulties. The federal government and the state had to step in, with guarantees and loans to save the further construction of the ship for 9500 passengers. The corona crisis exacerbated the liquidity problems of the parent company Genting, which is also the owner of the Dream Cruises shipping company.
At the weekend the shipyard employees had hoped for a compromise. However, negotiations with the owner Genting did not lead to an agreement. As a condition for a rescue package, the federal government had asked Genting to make its own contribution.
The flagship was actually supposed to leave the shipyard in 2021, the last date being discussed in the summer of 2022. The “Global Dream” is not the longest, but due to its cabin occupancy for 9,500 people it is the largest cruise ship in the world – in front of the ships of the Oasis class from the US shipping company Royal Caribbean for 6,780 passengers.
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