It didn't take long. When the Lürssen shipyard announced the takeover of Blohm+Voss in September 2016, it was not yet clear exactly how the Bremen-based company's new Hamburg site would be organised in the future. Now, around five months later, there is clarity. At a works meeting, Blohm+Voss Managing Director Dieter Dehlke and Dr Klaus Borgschulte, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, presented their plans to the workforce.
In future, Blohm+Voss is to be integrated primarily into the construction of naval vessels, including the production of further Class 130 corvettes for the German Navy. Lürssen also wants to concentrate the group-wide refit activities for yachts in Hamburg. The first orders have already been placed with "Katara" and "Lady Moura".
However, around 300 employees will have to fear for their jobs as a result of the reorganisation. "In order to secure the site in the long term, we will have to cut jobs in the core workforce at this point in time - despite numerous short-term cost-cutting measures that affect the company and every single employee," said Dieter Dehlke. "From today's perspective, around 300 jobs will be affected in several phases. The upcoming talks with the works council, the trade union and the employment agency will show in what form we will implement the job cuts."
In a stocktaking, Dr Klaus Borgschulte, Managing Director Operations at Lürssen, criticised: "Lürssen took over Blohm+Voss because we are convinced of the location and its potential. However, our analysis over several weeks shows that urgently needed investments have not been made in recent years, construction and production processes have not been sufficiently modernised and cost structures have not been adapted to real conditions." Borgschulte knows the Hamburg shipyard first-hand. When Blohm+Voss was still part of the ThyssenKrupp Group, he was CEO of ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems AG from 2005 to 2007. He resigned from his position at the time because he and the Group had differing views on the strategic direction of the shipyard.
