Meyer Group moving into megayacht sector

Germany’s historical Meyer Group has announced its intention to develop private yachts. The family-owned shipyard said it intends to build sustainable megayachts as embodied by the 150m-long concept ONE 50, which is powered by fuel cells and batteries, and was announced at the Monaco Yacht Show.

Founded in 1795, Meyer Group builds cruise ships, river cruise ships and ferries, and has shipyards in the northern cities of Papenburg and Rostock, as well as the Finnish city of Turku. It has produced over 700 ships in Papenburg alone.

The 150m concept is focused on eco-friendly propulsion and operating systems

However, with the disruption to the cruise ship industry, Meyer is diversifying its product portfolio to utilise the capacity at its shipyards as it ‘continues to work on realising innovative ship concepts in new market segments’.

Bernard Meyer, Chairman of Meyer Group, said: “Our ships can be seen on all the world’s oceans. Now we are opening the next chapter in our history and entering the market for megayachts. We have already received very positive feedback because we can realise almost limitless ideas and ship sizes, even the seemingly craziest ones.

The 15,000GT yacht can cater to 44 guests

“We are currently seeing that the demand for megayachts is increasing and there is room for another shipyard in this segment. We are experts in building special ships, we have proven that many times. Now we are working on making megayachts even bigger and, above all, greener.”

One 50 has six decks and immense outdoor spaces

MEGA BUILD CAPACITY

Meyer Group can easily cater to building megayachts as it has a long history of building large, complex ships, producing almost 350m-long ships in shipbuilding halls up to over 500m in length.

CEO Thomas Weigend said: “Megayachts are a new market segment that we can serve at all our three shipyards. At Meyer, it is always our ambition to position ourselves at the top, in environmental protection as well as now in yacht size. That’s why the One 50 is just the beginning of our ideas and plans.”

One 50 has six decks, a beam of 20m and an enormous volume of 15,000GT. The yacht caters for up to 44 guests and offers a spa on two levels, a cinema with an adjoining billiard room, an entertainment area including a stage, an art gallery and a huge infinity pool at the stern. Electrically powered by 25,000kW, One 50 will reach a top speed of 23 knots.

Private yachts represent a new sector for Meyer Group

Executive Board Member Malte Poelmann added: “We see a lot of potential in megayachts for new environmentally friendly technologies, which we also use directly in the One 50, such as fuel cells for emission-free ship operation. We attach very great importance to this.

“In addition to the many competencies and skills we already have, we will also bring additional specialists from the yacht building industry into our team and strengthen the Meyer Group.”

www.meyerwerft.de