NYK awards Meyer Werft first cruise ship contract since the pandemic
Japanese cruise giant announced that it had granted Meyer Werft a cruise ship construction contract since the pandemic.
By Michael McGrady, Maritime Direct Americas & Pacific Correspondent
TOKYO — German shipbuilding company Meyer Werft signed a contract with NYK Cruises to construct an LNG-fueled cruise ship set for delivery by 2025. This is big news, considering that this is the first order for a cruise vessel since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The vessel is a 744-guest cruiser for NYK’s Asuka Cruises brand. The vessel is a 51,950-ton ship concept.
“New orders are absolutely necessary for our current program for the future with enormously important savings and very many different measures,” said Jan Meyer, the managing director of Meyer Werft, in a statement reported on by Bunkerspot.
“We have been able to win our new customer from Japan as a new customer in this extremely difficult global market situation and worldwide competition with the best ship concept, innovations, quality and a very challenging price for us.”
Meyer Werft added that this was the first order in its history where all contracts and plans were negotiated via video conferencing and telecommunicating.
“The challenge is to survive with our combination of design, quality, innovation and, of course, under ever-increasing price pressure in the face of worldwide, sometimes heavily subsidized, competition,” notes Imke Knoop, the company’s head of sales and design.
