German shipbuilder Meyer Werft reports it has secured its first order within the growing offshore converter platform business.
The Papenburg shipyard—part of the Meyer Group, known primarily for building cruise ships—will carry out the majority of the steel work for converter platforms for the DolWin4 and BorWin4 offshore connections as well as BalWin1 and BalWin2, all destined for the North Sea.
"This order is a milestone for us in our entry into the construction of converter platforms, which we will also build at Neptun Werft in Rostock in the future. This successful expansion of our product portfolio secures knowledge and employment at our German shipyards and at the same time makes a decisive contribution to the energy transition," said Jan Meyer, chief business innovation officer, responsible for the development of new business areas, including the new offshore wind business area.
Managing director Thomas Weigend said, "We are delighted to have found new customers for a new Meyer Group product with our expertise and capacities. We firmly believe in this new market."
The converter platforms will be manufactured at the Spanish shipyard Dragados, which works on behalf of the German company Amperion.
“With Meyer Werft, we have another competent partner on board alongside Dragados. We are particularly pleased that the majority of our platforms will now be manufactured in Germany,” said Peter Barth, managing director at Amprion Offshore.
Meyer Werft is supplying steel block sections with a volume of almost 6,000 tonnes of steel each for DolWin4 and BorWin4 and around 15,500 tonnes of steel each for BalWin1/BalWin2. The volume of steel thus corresponds roughly to that of a large cruise ship. Deliveries of the components are planned for the period from autumn 2024 to spring 2027.