Meyer Turku: 10 years of family ownership and state-of-the-art cruise ship production in Finland

The Meyer shipyard in Turku, Finland, has been solely owned by the Meyer family for ten years now, who previously played a key role in the development and construction of cruise ships at the German Meyer shipyard in Papenburg for decades. Today, only the Turku shipyard belongs entirely to the Meyer family, as the majority of the shares in the Papenburg shipyard were taken over by the German state following economic difficulties.

The Meyer family acquired the Turku shipyard in two stages: In August 2014, it announced the purchase of 70% of the shares, which was finalized after an antitrust review. In spring 2015, the family also acquired the remaining shares from the Finnish state and thus became the sole owner of the Turku shipyard. Since then, Meyer has been building cruise ships not only on the Ems in Papenburg, but also in the Turku archipelago.

“We are proud to continue Turku's long shipbuilding tradition, which dates back to 1737. The decision to take over was based on two key factors: Firstly, Turku has an impressive history in shipbuilding and extensive expertise that could not simply be rebuilt in a short space of time. Secondly, the shipyard in Turku has the capacity to build particularly large ships,” explained Tim Meyer, CEO of the Turku shipyard.

Bernard Meyer's son also emphasized: “In our role as a pioneer in building the most modern ships and in the transition to sustainable technologies, we are always looking for new skilled workers. Our goal remains to keep the Turku shipyard as a long-term property and to continue working with our partners towards a more environmentally friendly shipbuilding industry. My personal goal is for Meyer Turku to continue to play an important role in the distant future.”

Meyer Werft in Perno, a district of Turku, has the technical capabilities to build the world's largest cruise ships. In the coming years, Meyer Turku will mainly be occupied with the production of the Icon class ships for Royal Caribbean International. The first ship in this class, the Icon of the Seas, was delivered in December 2023 and has been in operation as the world's largest cruise ship since January 2024. The Star of the Seas is currently under construction at the shipyard pier, with delivery scheduled for 2025, and a third Icon class ship is being built in the construction dock, which is due to enter service in 2026.

In addition, a fourth Icon Class ship has already been ordered for delivery in 2027. Royal Caribbean also has options for two more ships in this class. In addition to these major projects for Royal Caribbean, the Meyer shipyard in Turku has also built all seven cruise ships in the Mein Schiff fleet for TUI Cruises.