After the surprising end for Strela Shipyard last April, positive news is now coming from Stralsund.
In the middle of the month, it was announced that Dörries Yachts is coming to Stralsund – with an investment of around €20 million in tow. Among other things, the money is to be spent on a new 8,600 m² shipbuilding hall. According to the Chairman of the Volkswerft Committee of the Hanseatic City of Stralsund, Torsten Grundke, there are even plans to relocate the company headquarters from Bremen to Stralsund. Grundke announced this in a LinkedIn post.
“If someone had told me a few years ago that superyachts would soon be built at the Volkswerft shipyard in Stralsund – I would have smiled. Now it’s becoming a reality,” Grundke writes there.
The Bremen-based yacht builder, which was founded in 1987 by Werner Dörries, builds superyachts beyond the 100-meter mark for clients from all over the world. The current flagship is the 114-meter “Arwen” project, which was commissioned by an American tech billionaire, writes Grundke. However, this is only partially true: Dörries was originally commissioned to build the yacht, but the project was taken over by German Naval Yards in Kiel last October.
The decisive factor for Dörries Yachts’ decision in favor of Stralsund was, among other things, the cooperation with Ostseestaal, which is also based on the Volkswerft site. The chairman of the Volkswerft committee also cites the existing hall capacities, heavy load options, direct access to the water and the availability of qualified specialists with shipbuilding experience.
“I have been Chairman of the Volkswerft Committee for some time now, and what makes me particularly happy about this news is that it does not come alone. Fassmer is now also building ships in Stralsund. SLV launches welder training courses on the site. Pump technology from Altefähr moves to us. Bit by bit, something is growing together here,” writes Grundke. “From apprentices to luxury yachts – the Volkswerft is alive. And it has a future,” he says.
