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German Repair Yards Form Alliance

welding

Published Jan 13, 2017 6:37 PM by The Maritime Executive

As of February 1, 2017, German Dry Docks (GDD), BREDO Dockgesellschaft mbH (BREDO) and Mützelfeldwerft GmbH & Co. KG will form a shipyard alliance under the umbrella of the German Dry Docks Group. 

The shipyards will preserve their independence and continue to trade in the market with their names, but in the future the three locations will be managed by Guido Försterling (GDD) and Dirk Harms (BREDO).

The aim is to harmonize the business segments with a cross-site dock planning. Customers of all three companies will benefit from the common higher flexibility and dock capacity, said the companies in a statement. The shipyard alliance is an important component in order to offer repairs in Germany at the same prices but with even more service.

"Cross-site dock planning is a key element of our strategy," says Harms. "Each shipyard has had to reject orders in the past when its own docks were occupied. Together, we are now able to offer a higher dock capacity and react directly to fluctuating workloads at the sites. The harmonization of the processes allows us to react to customer requests in a highly flexible and cost-efficient manner. We are hereby establishing a link between the rivers Weser and Elbe."

According to Guido Försterling, both the customers as well as the shipyards with their employees benefit from the combination of the forces. "All three shipyards are specialized in ship repair with a 24/7 service and complement each other in their know-how. Thanks to the alliance the region is closing ranks. This is also a strong signal in international competition."

In addition to the shipyard alliance, the German Dry Docks Group also includes MWB Power with a motor services division as well as German Ship Repair and Rotterdam Ship Repair with its business segments of harbor and voyage repairs.

German Dry Docks operates five docks in the Kaiserhafen in Bremerhaven. BREDO operates four docks at its location Fischereihafen in Bremerhaven. The Mützelfeldtwerft operates one Dock in the Amerikahafen in Cuxhaven.