December 13 - The proposed deal for Netherlands-based shipbuilder VeKa Group to take over financially troubled Sietas shipyard, Hamburg, first mooted in June this year, has failed to be completed.
The Sietas shipyard currently has one new order - a jack-up vessel for Dutch marine engineering company Van Oord. The heavy lift vessel is set for deployment on offshore wind farm construction projects.
A proposed second identical vessel for Van Oord - and the subsequent ongoing employment of the Sietas shipyard - was a pre-requisite of the proposed VeKa Group takeover bid.
However, Van Oord has decided to postpone the construction of the second ship due to delayed investment for the EnBW Hohe See offshore wind farm in the North Sea - where the second vessel would be deployed into revenue-generating service.
In light of delayed investment into the offshore project, Van Oord has disbanded its entire Hohn See project team and in turn left the future of the Sietas shipyard and its 400 employees in doubt.
Insolvency administrator Berthold Brinkmann commented, "Sietas shipyard, its 400 employees and 26 trainees are now in a very difficult situation. On the one hand, we know from Van Oord that the shipyard's work is very highly regarded and that the construction of the first jack-up vessel for offshore wind farms built in a German shipyard is proceeding successfully.
"On the other, the shipyard needs more shipbuilding orders to be attractive to potential buyers. These are not just a condition for the takeover by VeKa, but also for other significant interested parties," he added.
In February 2013, the administrator must decide on the future of the Sietas shipyard and in order to remain financially viable, it must secure new orders before this date.
"The Sietas shipyard is a practical example of just how complicated planning for the energy transition is. We are in the process of building the first offshore wind power jack-up vessel in Germany and simultaneously we have had the carpet pulled out from under our feet by simple time limit regulations in connection with the timetable for the energy transition," Brinkmann explained.
www.sietas-werft.de
www.veka-group.nl
