Hong Kong On the Baltic Sea, the construction of a huge cruise ship is about to be completed. But the future of the MV shipyards with more than 1900 jobs is on the brink. The federal government is ready to help rescue the ailing company under certain conditions. “We stand by the side of the company and its employees in order to get through this difficult time together. It is now only up to the owners to make an appropriate contribution, ”said State Secretary for Economic Affairs Udo Philipp on Friday.
But the owner, Genting Hong Kong, is not ready for that at the moment. The owners lacked a clear commitment to their yard. “That is disappointing and endangers many thousands of jobs in the region,” said Philipp.
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck (Greens) and Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner (FDP), who both have to decide by mutual agreement about possible federal funds, are faced with the difficult decision of whether to release the funds.
The fact that the parent company Genting Hong Kong suspended share trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange until further notice is causing further uncertainty. The distant rescue operation began before Christmas, when, according to information from the Handelsblatt, the federal government had submitted a financing proposal from government circles.
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The huge cruise ship “Global Class 1” should be completed with around 600 million euros from the economic stabilization fund. In return, the Ministry of Economic Affairs asked the owner to make a contribution of 60 million euros. The ship was to be used as security for the federal financial injection. Federal Finance Minister Lindner also demands an appropriate contribution from the owner.
Close exchange with the owners
The Malaysian billionaire Lim Kok Thai is the head of the Genting Group, which operates casinos and cruise ships, among other things. In 2016 he bought MV Werften in Mecklenburg Vorpommern with around 2000 employees.
The background to the crisis at MV Werften is a liquidity gap that was reported by the company. Specifically, it is about 148 million euros, which should be taken in through further loans from the state and federal government. It is unclear whether these new aid payments will be made. The disbursement of the proportional state funds is currently also being disputed in court.
In the last few weeks there have been several intensive discussions with the owners and a close exchange between the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The owner is therefore still unwilling to make a contribution to the rescue of his shipyards.
Genting acquired shipyards in Rostock, Wismar and Stralsund in 2016 in response to the then booming cruise market in order to have ships built there for the Group’s own shipping companies. But with the collapse of the industry as a result of the corona crisis, the Asian parent company ran into difficulties that continue to this day.
With agency material.
More: Pressure from all sides – the cruise industry is getting caught up in the corona vortex.