Report: MSC Explores Acquiring Germany’s Controlling Stake in Meyer Werft
MSC Group is reported to be exploring acquiring the controlling ownership stake in Germany’s Meyer Werft shipbuilder, Bloomberg reported. The story says the company has ongoing discussions with Germany’s federal government and the state of Lower Saxony, which together acquired 80 percent ownership of Meyer Werft in 2024 as part of a financial rescue package.
Meyer Werft got into financial trouble in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused major shifts in its operations. While the yard was able to maintain all its existing cruise ship orders, deliveries were delayed, and the future pace of work slowed. The company was also pre-financing the construction, not receiving payments until delivery of the $1 billion-plus cruise ships.
MSC is said to be considering acquiring the 80 percent stake held by the two governments, which invested €400 million ($459 million) in capital in 2024 and provided loan guarantees of €2.6 billion as part of a refinancing designed to carry the operations over until at least 2028 and delivery of existing cruise ship orders. The Meyer family retains 20 percent ownership and has a first right of refusal to repurchase the government stakes, but surrendered its management roles during the reorganization.
Bloomberg writes that the governments are demanding that they at least recoup the €400 million investment. They would also likely be looking for guarantees for employment and operations, as the shipyards located in Papenburg and Rostock, Germany, are large employers. The government could also be wary after its experiences with Genting Hong Kong, which acquired three shipyards to form MV Werften, only for the yards to go bankrupt.
MSC was already poised to become a large customer of Meyer Werft after reporting in December 2025 that it had entered into a letter of intent to order four cruise ships along with an option for two more. Called the New Frontier project, the ships were to be approximately 180,000 gross tons with accommodations for 5,400 passengers, making them among the largest that can be built in Papenburg. Reports at the time said the order would be valued at approximately €11 billion.
Meyer in June responded to comments, saying that negotiations for the contract and the design of the new cruise ships were proceeding, and while complex, had reached an advanced stage. The German federal government, Bloomberg reported in July, approved state loan guarantees worth €11.5 billion ($13.1 billion) for the cruise ship construction project. When the letter of intent was announced, government officials hailed the agreement, saying it ensured the shipyard’s operations until 2035.
Meyer has maintained a robust orderbook, with work currently underway on two 180,000 gross ton cruise ships, Carnival Festivale and Carnival Tropicale, for Carnival Cruise Line. It is also building another 140,000 gross ton cruise ship for Disney Cruise Line, Disney Believe, and has an order for a similar ship for Oriental Land, the operator of the Tokyo Disney Resort. Disney Cruise Line also has three smaller cruise ships ordered from the yard, with the current projects keeping the yard at capacity until 2030. In Rostock, it has orders for Viking’s river cruise ships.
Disney Cruise Line recently highlighted that Meyer Werft had completed the “grand block” for the new Disney Believe and floated it out of the building hall. The report said the yard was so busy that they built the center section of the cruise ship and moved it out of the hall to create more space for the other projects.
Meyer Weft recently reported strong increases in revenues for 2025, based on the delivery of the Asuka III and Disney Destiny, as well as the completion of Disney Adventure in Wismar, the delivery of two river cruise ships, and work on a German research ship and offshore energy converter platforms. The company, however, still reported losses of approximately €384 million, citing financial losses on old contracts and its former practice of financing the ship constructions without progress payments.
Management said they expected to close the gap approaching breakeven in 2026 due to lower supply and labor costs. They are not scheduled to deliver a cruise ship this year, but officials said the financial restructuring is proceeding according to plan.
that matters most
Get the latest maritime news delivered to your inbox daily.
The shipyard, which traces its origins back 230 years, built up the cruise ship construction business starting in the 1980s. However, it could return to commercial shipbuilding, with the only limitation being the size of the Papenburg lock and the dimensions required to safely transit the Ems River.
It is not the first time MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company has expressed interest in acquiring a shipyard. In 2024 and 2025, it was linked to negotiations in Romania with the government to acquire the Mangalia Shipyard, possibly in partnership with Rheinmetall. At the time, it said the yard could be used to build and repair cruise ships nd other commercial vessels.
