Leadership changes at Meyer's Papenburg and Turku shipyards

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Written by Teijo Niemelä Teijo Niemelä

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 17 June 2020 17 June 2020

Jan Meyer, the CEO of Meyer Turku since 2014, will focus in the future on the role as Managing Director of Meyer Werft, Germany. At the same time Tim Meyer, managing director of Meyer Werft since 2016, will take over the position of the CEO at Meyer Turku. The change will take effect after the summer 2020.

“As a long term strategy of continuous exchange between the yards on all levels it was since the beginning planned to rotate the leadership at some suitable time in the future. The acute situation caused by the corona crisis will require and lead to major changes on all yards. As these changes and new structures will be implemented, it is now a good timing to carry out a family internal leadership switch between Jan and Tim”, says Bernard Meyer, chairman of Meyer Turku Oy and managing director of Meyer Werft.

It is also the goal of the switch to ensure continuous improvement by changing perspectives and defining the future structure of the Meyer production network. With the change, CEO Tim Meyer will move to Turku.

“The three yards in Papenburg, Turku and Warnemünde are already working closely together. We are learning from each other by implementing knowledge and experience of all locations. Already today, we are seeing the benefits of this cooperation. The exchange of people between the locations is essential and a success factor for the future. During my six years in Turku, my family and I have been very welcomed and supported here in Finland and we are very thankful for that. The time at the shipyard has been very intensive and personally inspiring, we have made many changes and investments, faced and made through many challenges together with our teams and partners. And still some further challenges are remaining – especially with this new situation. Through the cross-site collaboration, I will also in the future remain well connected and engaged with Turku.

We are now turning a new page at all our sites and need to seek also the opportunities in this crisis, implement many changes and at the same time strengthening our global functions, hence I am looking forward to push that change in Papenburg while staying involved with Turku through our cross-site collaboration”, CEO Jan Meyer states.

“I feel excited to get to work even more closely together with the shipbuilders and partners in Turku and of course also to get to know Finland and its people personally. We are encouraging an exchange between the yards on all levels and want to act as role models here”, CEO Tim Meyer says.

The Corona crisis hits the cruise industry and consequently also the shipyards very hard. That is why still substantial and partially painful adjustments are needed.

“Our shipyard went through many different times. We have to be always aware: If we take the right and bold steps, taking into account our changes, we will emerge stronger from this crisis than before”, adds Bernard Meyer.

Photo: Meyer Shipyard CEOs Thomas Weigend (from left), Jan Meyer, Bernard Meyer and Tim Meyer.

ITF gives seafarers right to stop work, leave ship, go home as crew exchange, repatriation crisis escalates

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Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen

Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines

Published: 16 June 2020 16 June 2020

The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), the London based global labour union ceiling organisation, and its affiliated seafarers’ unions will now assist hundreds of thousands of seafarers to exercise their right to stop working, leave ships, and return home, ITF said in a statement.

The new approach, which could be highly disruptive to global trade, comes after insufficient action by governments to designate seafarers as ‘key workers’, exempt them from Covid-19 travel restrictions and facilitate repatriation of around 200,000 seafarers who have been caught up in the crew change crisis, said ITF Seafarers’ Section Chair Dave Heindel said in the statement.

Cruise ship operators had thousands of seafarers onboard ships that are in lay up due to the crisis and efforts to repatriate them have been both time consuming and challenging, media reports say.

“We are sending a very strong message to seafarers: you have selflessly extended and extended your contracts to do your part to keep critical supplies flowing around the world during this pandemic. Some seafarers have been onboard for more than a year, and over the course of this pandemic many have been prevented by governments from coming ashore even for a walk and alarmingly refused emergency medical care. Frankly, we have seafarers killing themselves at the prospect of this misery continuing without end. They call them ‘floating prisons’. This situation is intolerable to the ITF family,” said Heindel

ITF President and Dockers’ Section chair Paddy Crumlin reiterated the repeated warnings given to governments from unions and industry of this unfolding humanitarian crisis: “We have urged them on the consequences of tired, fatigued, depressed crew – to trade, to the environment. We have worked with industry and the international community to offer solutions.”

“But enough is enough. We have to draw a line in the sand and today is the day that we make it crystal clear to governments, that from June 16, seafarers are going to start enforcing their right to stop working and to return home. No more contract extensions.” said Crumlin.

ITF General Secretary Steve Cotton said all that governments need to do is make practical exceptions to coronavirus restrictions, and allow these key workers to transit through their territories and return to their families. A few small changes by national governments would allow seafarers to get home, and be relieved by a fresh crew, he said.

“If a seafarers wants off a ship, then the ITF, our affiliated unions and the ITF inspectorate will do everything we can to assist them. We fully expect port state authorities in all countries where ships dock to honour their obligations under the Maritime Labour Convention to get these seafarers safely home. That is their legal obligation,”

“If getting seafarers off these ships causes chaos in supply chains, if ports back up from Singapore to San Francisco, and if this causes ship insurance providers to pull their coverage and global trade to grind to a halt; then that is on the heads of politicians, not the world’s seafarers,”

“Seafarers have done our part in this pandemic, and plenty more. Enough is enough,” said Steve Cotton.

Background on the crew change crisis:

The ITF, our affiliates, and our social partners have been clear in our warnings about the consequences of governments and their officials ignoring the escalating crew change crisis:

19 March: ITF agreed to crew contract extensions due to unprecedented pandemic, where crew consent

7 April: ITF and employers told G20 leaders to facilitate essential movement of seafarers

9 April: Maritime unions and employers called on governments to identify seafarers as key workers and facilitate crew changes

27 April: ITF, employers called out governments for denying medical assistance ashore for seafarers

6 May: Industry-union 12-step solution for crew change is adopted by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which starts advocating for the protocols to governments and internationally

14 May: The ITF and Joint Negotiating Group (JNG) representing employers, including the International Maritime Employers Council, release a joint statement calling for government action and set a final 30 day implementation deadline to June 15

22 May: The UN Secretary General was urged by global union and shipping leaders to governments to act urgently

28 May: ILO, IMO and ICAO urge governments to act on crew change, ‘key worker’ status

12 June: UN backs ITF, international calls for key workers status over crew change crisis