Ships Monthly – August 2018

http://www.shipsmonthly.com • Summer 2018 • 53

SHIPYARD

Voss teamed with partner
shipyard Thyssen to protect
and secure the growth
potential for both businesses.
Initially, the shipyard specialised
in the delivery of refrigerated
ships, but in 1958 the new
German Navy ordered the
sail training ship Gorch Fock.
That year also saw Blohm and
Voss take over the remains of
the neighbouring Schlieker
shipyard and completed their
order book, which signifi cantly
included further contracts for
the German Navy.
In 1966 Blohm and Voss
took over the Stülcken
shipyard, which had orders
for frigates and destroyers for
the Navy, including the four
Hamburg class destroyers, as
well as the two Sachsenwald
class mine transport ships,
Sachsenwald and Steigerwald.
In 1970 the Portuguese Navy
ordered three corvettes: Joao
Coutinho, Jacinto Candido
and General Pereira D’Eca.
On the 100th anniversary
of the creation of Blohm
and Voss, on 12 June 1971,
the 58,088gt container
ship Hamburg Express was
launched, and she became
the last cargo ship built by
the shipyard as it struggled to
compete with Far East yards
in this sector. Construction
of warships, however,

continued, but not suffi ciently

to allow the restoration of all

sites, so Stülcken and Ross

were vacated in order to be

redeveloped by Hamburg city.

From 1986 Blohm and Voss

developed the MEKO frigate

concept, whereby customers

could pick and choose from

a range of attributes for their

warships. The frigates and

destroyers were modular

in design and proved very

successful in building foreign

sales worldwide. The German

Navy also took part in the

programme, acquiring the

F122, F123 and F124 classes

of frigates and destroyers, as

well as the K-130 corvettes of

the Braunschweig class, built in

association with Lürssen Werft.

In 1996 the yard was

restructured into three

autonomous companies,

specialising in newbuild, repair

and engineering with partner

ThyssenKrupp. In the summer

of 2000 Blohm and Voss

entered the passenger ship

building business again, with

the completion of Olympic

Voyager, which was delivered

to Royal Olympic Cruises and

was the fastest cruise ship at

the time of her construction.

In 2011 an 80 per cent

share in Blohm and Voss

was sold to the Abu Dhabi

MAR, a holding company

 ARA Sarandí is the fourth and last
ship of the MEKO 360H2 series of
destroyers built for the Argentine
Navy. The ship is also the fourth in
the Argentine Navy to bear that
name. Sarandí is the name of a
victory of the Argentine army during
the Cisplatine War.

 Vintage Luxuo (B+V yard no.111) is one of the largest private yachts in the

world and was built using the technical know-how of Blohm and Voss.

 Savarona is the Presidential yacht of Turkey. She was the largest yacht in the

world when launched in 1931. Although owned by the government, she had

been briefly leased out to Turkish businessman Kahraman Sadıkoglu. However,

upon orders of the Turkish Government, her lease was terminated and she

reverted to the Turkish State.

based in the UAE. Under

their ownership, Blohm and

Voss continues to be at the

cutting edge of technology

and innovation and, during

the 21st century, has been

involved in the construction

of super yachts for the

world’s most wealthy people,

a lucrative market for the

company. In 2016 it became

a subsidiary of Lürssen and

continues to supply both the

military and civil markets.