Photo: W.D.R.
ern countries. It was also one of the first
shipping segments affected by the global
economic crisis in 2008/09. Sietas Group –
which had recorded a loss already for the
2007 fiscal year – was rammed very severely by the downturn, and only a thorough
redevelopment and realignment concept,
launched early last year, succeeded to secure the shipyard’s viability.
A new Managing Board comprising
Rüdiger Fuchs – a former Airbus manager –
and Rüdiger Wolf took office on 01 March
2009, and within few months the entire
enterprise underwent deep restructuring:
The product portfolio was reshuffled with
a new focus on special-purpose ships rather than container vessels, costs were drastically cut and the production changed to
an industrial concept facilitating shorter
processing times, higher productivity and
reduced inventories.
A key objective was the reduction of
construction times from 13 to ten months
through the implementation of latest industrial concepts allowing efficient workflow management and sequential control.
“We want to bring back the lifeblood
of the Sietas shipyard which is a jewel in
the maritime crown of Germany,” Rüdiger Fuchs and Rüdiger Wolf promised
when taking office, “we believe that we
will have steered our way into calmer waters by 2011.”
CONTRACTS FOR
SPECIAL-PURPOSE SHIPS
Sietas’ new management quickly came
on a good course for fulfilling this ambitious goal. The main focus was set on the
acquisition of new contracts for specialpurpose ships requiring particular technical expertise and innovativeness, such as
RoRo-vessels and ferries, offshore vessels,
heavylift-vessels or dredgers.
Already in April 2009, Sietas obtained the important contract for the M/V
“Uthlande”. Another order from the ferry segment followed a few months later:
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