At the end of last month, cruise shipbuilder Meyer Turku shipyard started negotiations to permanent layoff of 450 people with another 900 affected by other measures.
These include temporary layoffs of different lengths, work time adjustments and other arrangements. All personnel at every level are involved in the negotiations.
“The corona pandemic has changed the situation unexpectedly and totally. We are facing the fact that the corona-caused pause in cruising requires to stretch the orderbook. We are currently discussing the details with our customers. This new situation will force us to take painful adaptation measures to secure a sustainable future for Finnish cruise shipbuilding and the network,” Meyer Turku’s CEO, Jan Meyer, explained.
“Our preparations have been for the future. Now unexpectedly that future has changed and we have to adjust to that new future. Instead of a further ramp-up from one to two large ships delivered per year until 2023, the estimation is now that Turku shipyard will in the future build one large cruise ship per year and not further ramp-up,” he added.
The exact changes to the building and delivery times of the seven ships on Meyer Turku’s orderbook to 2025 were still under negotiations with the owners.
Meyer Turku also published its 2019 financial figures, which showed a loss of €109.7 mill, compared with a profit of €29 mill in 2018.
The losses were mainly down to the delivery of the newbuilding ‘Costa Smeralda’, which was delayed due to difficulties with the yard’s substantial ramp-up and the ship’s size & complexity.
Throughout 2019, the yard employed an average of 2,386 workers, compared with an average of 2,205 the year before.
