German shipbuilder FSG makes a new start

Over 350 employees of Germany’s Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) as well as business assets of the struggling shipyard have been taken over by several companies belonging to investment company Tennor Holding.

This is a result of the purchase agreement recently reached between the creditors and Tennor Holding and its founder Lars Windhorst.

“In order to continue the restructuring process started in the insolvency proceedings, the new managing directors Stefan Kindler and Tarek Malak, who were seconded by Tennor Holding, will further build up the organization,” a joint statement issued by the management, works council and labour union IG Metall Flensburg reads.

Last month, the Flensburg District Court opened insolvency proceedings concerning FSG after the financially-troubled shipbuilder filed for insolvency in April this year.

The shipbuilder had been experiencing financial troubles for some time and was offered a lifeline in the form of a new owner Tennor Holding B.V. back in September 2019. However, the company’s financial woes were worsened following the cancellation of several shipbuilding contracts in 2020.

“By the winter of 2020, the management of the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft will be placed in the hands of a management team with years of experience,” the parties added.

“The talks are already well advanced. Their task will be to give the FSG a strategic orientation and to win further shipbuilding contracts in order to fill the shipyard on the Flensburg Fjord with civil and military newbuildings.”

Founded in 1872, FSG has been designing and building ships including diving heavy-lift carriers, seismic vessels, well intervention vessels, roll-on/roll-off ferries and ships for strategic naval suppot.