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Mobile WebSiteDriven by the hot cruise ship market, Europe's top shipbuilding companies have won record shipbuilding orders. Although Asia's shipbuilding powers are globally leading in merchant ship construction, European shipbuilders have also consolidated their leading position in shipbuilding construction and related technology development. It can be said that the construction of cruise ships is a trump card in the hands of the European shipbuilding industry.
The data shows that the workload of European shipyards and high-end passenger rolling ships has reached an unprecedented level, and the current order value accounts for the highest proportion of the total value of global merchant shipbuilding contracts. The European shipbuilding industry has an absolute monopoly in the luxury passenger ship sector. One of the most powerful trump cards in its hands is to have the best industrial chain, including not only hardware and technology, but also supporting contractors with the required process skills. The complexity and time requirements of the cruise project will test the shipyard's management and logistics capabilities. European architectural and interior design innovations have also made important contributions to the quality and commercial appeal of the European shipbuilding industry.
European ship construction is currently dominated by the Fincantieri Group, Chantiers de l’Atlantique (formerly STX France), Meyer Group and Genting Group's MV Werft shipyard, and is undergoing a new wave of restructuring. For example, Fincantieri is awaiting the final approval of the authorities to acquire a majority stake in STX France. Other small European shipyards have entered the fast-growing expedition and ultra-luxury small cruise market.
Fincantieri Group, a global leader in the construction of cruise ships, teamed up with STX France
The Fincantieri Group is undoubtedly the leader in the global construction of cruise ships. Five years ago, the Fincantieri Group acquired a majority stake in the Norwegian-based Vard Group and its shipyards around the world. Today, the company has signed an acquisition agreement with the French government to acquire a 50% stake in STX France, pushing the European shipbuilding industry into an important new phase of integration and restoring STX France to its original name Chantiers de l’Atlantique. According to the final license of the anti-monopoly authority, the acquisition will also allow Fincantieri to obtain a 1% share loan, enabling Fincantieri to control STX France with 51% of the shares.
The combined influence of the Italian and French shipbuilding industry will be very large. Although the military ship sector and other high value-added fields are the target markets of the two countries, the future alliance between the two countries will have a special impact on the shipbuilding sector. The value of STX France's hand-held merchant ship construction orders is currently based entirely on large cruise ships, and from a single shipyard, it is one of the world's most valuable shipyards. At the same time, with the influx of a new round of mail contracts, by the end of July 2018, Fincantieri's workload has reached a record 32 billion euros ($37.2 billion).
STX France's hand-held orders share 11 large-scale mail ships, and the delivery time has been scheduled to 2024. There are also alternative contracts worth €1 billion ($1.15 billion) that need to be completed in 2025 and 2026. Most of the orders are LNG powered cruise ships, including the next generation of Global Mail of the Mediterranean Cruises.
Fincantieri recently strengthened its cooperation agreement with the Chinese shipbuilding industry, proving the business strategy of this expansion-conscious Italian group and promised to provide new opportunities for European professional suppliers.
A pioneer in the field of European shipbuilding construction - Meyer Group
The Meyer Group is a family-owned company and has always been a pioneer in the field of shipbuilding and cruise construction in Europe.
The Meyer Group continues to invest in the processes of its German shipyards and Finnish shipyards and their production facilities, and continues to carry out extensive research and development. In September 2014, Meyer Group acquired the STX Finnish shipyard and the representative Turku shipyard in Finland and made an investment to make the group's orders well received. In addition, the Group's shipyards in Papenburg, Rostock and Turku worked closely together to achieve good synergy and achieved good results in terms of economic efficiency, quality and shipbuilding innovation capabilities.
In the face of an industry that traditionally faces labor uncertainty, Meyer Werft has taken special security measures to release employment guarantees before 2030. At the beginning of September 2018, the group had 250 job vacancies in Germany, including not only engineers and designers, but also welders, manufacturing workers, electricians, transporters and crane drivers. In addition, various information technology (IT) professionals are recruited because Meyer hopes to realize new IT prospects, including the launch of SAP (systems, applications and products) software at shipyards around the world.
As of September 2018, the group's Papenburg shipyard held 13 shipbuilding construction orders, and the delivery date was 2023, including three AIDAnova-class ships of AIDI Cruises with approximately 184,000 gross tons, and two Lona-class new ships of P&O. The ship, the Disney company 2 ships of 135,000 gross tons.
Orders from the group's Turku shipyard have also been placed in 2024, with 8 new cruise ships in hand, two of which are Royal Caribbean's 200,000 gross tons of ICON monsters. The shipyard has long been committed to strengthening the construction capacity of the ship, and launched a 200 million euro ($233 million) shipyard investment plan, in which a 1200-ton capacity gantry crane was installed in June 2018, the largest gantry crane in the Nordic region.
The Meyer Group's mail order has been placed for several years. The Meyer Group's existing business coupled with market prospects will enable the Group's construction business to maintain continuity for the foreseeable future.
The “new upstart” in the construction of European cruise ships – MV Werften under the Genting Group
