"You can rely on me!"

150 years of Flensburg Shipbuilding Company: Birthday on the fjord

Soon well occupied again? The FSG shipbuilding hall

The times that lie behind FSG were often characterised by pessimism. The last few years have been characterised by a mood of crisis and the traditional shipyard has been on the brink of collapse on several occasions. However, the old shipyard on the fjord draws on the strength of the location, a wealth of strong staff loyalty, embedding in the society of the fjord town, opposite the Mürwik naval school, within sight of an ancient harbour. And there is that unshakeable North German mentality that bad weather should be met with appropriate clothing and that complaining is not an option.

And now Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) is celebrating its 150th anniversary on Saturday. Ships have been built since 1872 and a total of 750 cargo, passenger and special ships have been sent out into the world from the fjord. Everything from sailing schooners, submarines, freighters, container ships and RoRo ferries have been built, as well as fleet service boats for the navy, hulls and superstructures for tenders and task force supply ships, and even research vessels have left the halls on the west bank of the inner fjord. For decades, people would gather on the eastern shore opposite to watch ships glide into the water amid the howling of typhoons: The pupils from the schools on the eastern shore sometimes had an hour off school - often without the teachers' knowledge.

Managing Director Phillip Maracke, owner Lars Windhorst, Lord Mayor Simone Lange, City President Hannes Fuhrig

Sometimes it was "the end", but a solution was always found, such as in 2019 when investor Lars Windhorst's Tennor Holding stepped in. When insolvency proceedings were filed in 2020, several companies belonging to Tennor took over the shipyard and its 350 employees. The new start seemed successful, but there were still no orders. In the meantime, a lot has happened and after the critically scrutinised economic restart, the new 782 was launched. The first launch on 17 June is a 210-metre-long RoRo ferry, which was christened "MV Tennor Ocean" by Flensburg's Lord Mayor Simone Lange as godmother. The client is IVP Ship Invest, a Tennor Group company owned by Lars Windhorst. Negotiations regarding the sale or chartering of the ferry have not yet been finalised. The ship has four decks, can accommodate lorry trailers over a length of 4000 metres, requires comparatively little fuel and has a modern loading concept. The type was developed by FSG and has already been built several times - it is the RoRo type 4100. Commissioning is due to take place in the summer and the trial run in the autumn. In the meantime, external orders have been placed again, also in co-operation with the Nobiskrug shipyard in Rendsburg, which was also taken over by Lars Windhorst's group. Around 2,000 guests gathered on the shipyard site on Saturday. Employees, families and prominent visitors had the opportunity to take a close look at the facilities and trades - and also to view the new "Tennor Ocean".

On stage: Mayor Lange, VSM Managing Director Dr Lüken, Managing Director Maracke and Lars Windhorst

We will still be building ships here in 150 years' time

Towards a bright future together? Mayor Simome Lange and investor Lars Windhorst

Optimism was also evident in the celebratory speeches. Managing Director Philipp Maracke, Managing Director of Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, recalled the history of the shipyard, its tradition, its ups and downs and its strengths. There have been rough seas in recent years, but "things are clearing up", he emphasised. He sees three major opportunities for the shipyard in the future: firstly, the cooperation with Nobiskrug in yacht building, secondly, the innovative strength in reducing pollutants and thirdly, naval shipbuilding. With regard to the latter, he alluded to the fact that the navy will benefit from the 100 billion package for the German armed forces and has orders to award.

The company will also be bidding for the construction of the research vessel Polarstern II. "The construction of naval vessels has always played a role in FSG's 150-year history. The largest ship in the German Navy was built here. The three fleet service boats currently in service were also developed and built here, as were the tenders," he explained. "The navy plays an important role in our future strategy." According to Maracke, the shipyard has always played a major role in Flensburg's society and ships will still be built here in 150 years' time.

Critical questions.

Flensburg's Lord Mayor Simone Lange was also a guest at the anniversary celebrations. "This shipyard has survived the past 150 years because it has always moved with the times and focused on quality and specialisation. That's why it has a future!" she said. She called on those present from the world of politics to take the message to Berlin.

"You can't beat China alone"

Dr Reinhard Lüken, Managing Director of the German Shipbuilding and Ocean Industries Association, said to Lars Windhorst that he was "laughing at an old lady" and emphasised tradition and self-confidence. In his usual clearly critical tone, he pointed out the challenges: "exploding prices, the cost of inflation, constant price pressure from China" were words of warning to politicians. "China cannot be beaten alone, politics must help," he said clearly. Europe has its own needs and is the largest domestic market in the world, and new opportunities are arising from the requirements for climate neutrality. 20,000 ships need to be converted, tankers need to be built for hydrogen and new markets need to be opened up. Equipping the German Armed Forces is also an important opportunity. Perhaps it helps, said Lüken, that there are many northern Germans in the federal government, alluding to Scholz and Habeck.

"Turning point also means timely!"

Type RoRo 4100 in RAL 7000: Does military use make sense?

Lars Windhorst expressed his great respect for tradition and emphasised that, as an entrepreneur, he was used to taking risks. Using the example of LNG and the development of scrubber technology, he emphasised the innovative strength of the shipyard, although his face did not brighten when it came to LNG. All the more so, however, in his outlook on positive news: he announced new investments, including the acquisition of the floating dock of the Pella Sietas shipyard, avoiding the word insolvency assets. He also announced co-operation on orders from the Nobiskrug shipyard and advertised for marine orders. With the experience and capacity, he said, it would be possible to start immediately, "A turnaround also means promptly!" he said confidently. He had previously made a clear commitment to the employees with the words "You can rely on me".