Hi Lena, did you grow up with ships?
I come from Emden, which is 50 minutes north of Papenburg by car. If you come from the region, the many shipyards are naturally omnipresent. Meyer Werft sparked my interest in the industry early on. After graduating, I wanted to work in marketing there. I found it exciting that the Meyer Group is constantly growing and has a broad product portfolio. It's not about a mass product, be it cruisers or yachts.
Was there a personal connection to sailing or boating?
Not really, I'm a career changer. But I've always had an affinity for the sea and what's on it.
What did you study?
International Business Administration and Management in Osnabrück, specialising in Marketing. In my last semester, I did an internship at Meyer Werft to get a taste of what it's like, but I quickly realised that I really liked it. The marketing there is very broadly diversified, so everything from cruisers to specialised ships and yacht brands is covered by one department. Because I started at a time when the Monaco Yacht Show was taking place, I had a lot of direct contact with the Meyer Yachts brand.
What happened after your business studies?
I finished this in April after writing my bachelor's thesis on the yacht brand at Meyer Werft. It was about the current communication policy and how the brand is presented to the outside world. This included how to successfully reach the target group despite communicative challenges in the various markets. I conducted interviews with people within the industry, such as Klaus-Ehlert Meyer from Deutsche Yachten, in order to work out the communicative challenges that the industry brings with it.
Have you found anything that Meyer Werft could do better?
It has turned out that a lot of things are already being done right. Above all, we want to be present at the yacht shows. That is the communication tool in the yacht industry, going to trade fairs, attending events where the relevant target groups, i.e. owners, their representatives, brokers or designers are represented. Sometimes it's also a matter of luck, just that one interesting contact has to pass by. One consequence of this for us was that we now also want to exhibit in Fort Lauderdale with the joint Deutsche Yachten stand. We hope to gain a foothold in the American market with a stand presence.
What could the yachting industry learn from cruisers?
One major advantage that the cruise industry gives us is the issue of sustainable drive solutions. Some of these are already required by law. Thanks to our large research and development department, we are already one step ahead of some of our competitors. The best example of this is the 244 metre long Silver Nova, which we delivered this year. The luxury cruise ship for 728 passengers uses liquefied natural gas (LNG) as its main fuel and is expected to reduce emissions by 40 per cent overall compared to its previous ship class. As on all Nova-class ships, the volume of waste on board will be reduced, resulting in lower combustion emissions. Above all, however, fuel cells in combination with batteries cover the ship's power supply as well as the entire hotel operation.
Are the interiors of these compact cruisers also modular?
Partly, but only high-quality materials are used. Everything in the luxurious suites is custom-made. In production, there are still individual sections that are prefabricated and put together. We have a very efficient production method, parts of which could also be transferred to the yacht market.
The design departments are certainly somewhat larger than those of yacht builders.
Yes, definitely. We have more than 1,400 engineers who are primarily concerned with making ships and yachts as efficient and sustainable as possible. Our size is also reflected in our project management. Then there are our capacities. We have two shipyards in Germany, one in Rostock and one in Papenburg, which could start yacht projects in parallel with cruisers. That would be a separate production flow. We assume that we will realise shorter delivery times than pure yacht shipyards.
A pontoon house from Meyer Floating Solutions with 6000 square metres of living space is already in Dubai, and now Meyer Yachts has shown a yacht with a matching villa dock at MYS. What do you want to achieve with the THREE05 project?
We are constantly working on new concepts that we can present to potential customers. THREE05 combines Meyer Floating Solutions with Meyer Yachts and consists of a 180-metre-long floating villa to which a 125-metre yacht is docked. One possible use is to utilise the duo in front of a private island that the owner does not necessarily want to build on. According to the motto: preserving nature instead of sealing off land. The yacht alone would have an interior volume of 7500 gross tonnes.
Do the concepts basically come from the shipyard's own designs?
Exactly, the ONE50, the TWO10 and also our new concept the THREE05 were designed in-house. The designer is based in Turku and works not only on yacht concepts but also on cruise projects.
How did you come to Young Professionals in Yachting (YPY)?
I heard about it from my colleagues Lars Kruse and Kendra Schulte, who had already been to several YPY events and recommended that I join in order to gain a foothold in the superyacht industry. The network helped me enormously, as this industry can be very overwhelming, especially for newcomers (laughs). It was good to be able to network and exchange ideas with younger people who may have just started out. After my first event on Pellworm, I quickly realised that I wanted to get more involved with YPY. So I was all the more pleased that the position of managing the social media channels and the website had to be filled, which means I can now be part of the YPY board.
About "Young Professionals in Yachting Germany"
Founded in 2017, the Network platform "Young Professionals in Yachting Germany" supports its members in making contacts within the industry, including at events and get-togethers. Anyone who already works in the yachting industry and is between 20 and 40 years old can join. The association currently has over 100 members from different areas of the large yacht world.
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