Norway-based Siem group have sold their minority stake in German shipbuilder Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) to majority shareholder Tennor Holding B.V.. Meanwhile, the yard has delivered the seventh of eight Ro-Ro sister-ships built for Siem, LEEVSTEN. Siem had previously owned the yard but sold the majority of its stake earlier this year to Sapinda Holding, later renamed Tennor Holding. Siem Industries had taken control of the financially troubled yard back in 2014 when it purchased its shares for just €1. Tennor Holding B.V is an investment vehicle controlled by German entrepreneur Lars Windhorst and now owns 100% of the shipyard.
On the same day that the share sale was announced, 30th August, FSG delivered LEEVSTEN to its former owner. The 4,076 lane metre capacity vessel is widely expected to be chartered to Moby/Tirrenia owner Onorato Armatori. The previous two units in the series, MARIA GRAZIA ONORATO and ALF POLLAK, were also chartered to Onorato. An as-yet unnamed sister ship is expected to be launched at the end of October.
After this the next vessel, the following ship on the build schedule is a second vessel for Irish Ferries. However, steel cutting for this ship has not yet been announced either by FSG or Irish Ferries owner Irish Continental Group (ICG). There has been a report that ICG have been enquiring about building the vessel at other shipyards, but it is not known whether these reported enquiries are the result of a plan to cancel the order at FSG or as part of a contingency plan incase the yards financial difficulties worsen. FSG are currently completing Brittany Ferries HONFLEUR which had originally been expected to be delivered earlier this year. The French operator now expects the new ship to enter service next Spring.
