Ostseestaal expands and records moderate growth in 2022

Second electric passenger ship for Lake Zurich completes test runs 

Stralsund, December 2022 - Before the year 2022 draws to a close, another electric solar-powered ship has been launched at Ostseestaal GmbH & Co. KG and is completing sea trials on the Strelasund. The 22.50 metre long and 3.80 metre wide inland passenger ship is the second of a total of three identical newbuilds being built by Ostseestaal and its subsidiary Ampereship on behalf of the Lake Zurich Navigation Company (ZSG). Like its two sister ships, the zero-emission passenger ship will operate on the Limmat, the river that flows out of Lake Zurich and crosses the largest Swiss city of Zurich.

In June of this year, the first Zurich ship was transported from Stralsund to Switzerland by articulated lorry over a distance of more than 1100 kilometres. The delivery is one of the milestones in Ostseestaal GmbH & Co. KG's 2022 financial year. Over the past twelve months, the Stralsund-based company has been able to continue its successful course, despite the considerably more difficult market conditions caused by the coronavirus and energy crisis. „This year, we have managed to stay on the path of moderate growth and make gains in key areas,“ summarises Philipp Peuß, Marketing Manager at Ostseestaal. In spring, the company succeeded in winning the contract for the construction of an electric car ferry from Stadtverkehr Lübeck GmbH, among others. The double-ended ferry is currently under construction and will connect the Lübeck district of Travemünde with the Priwall peninsula from March 2023.

In Germany, Ostseestaal has now become the number one in the design and construction of electric solar-powered ships for commercial shipping and is one of the market leaders in Europe. To date, a total of 14 electric solar-powered vessels have been built and delivered in Stralsund for a wide range of applications. In addition, Ostseestaal's expertise is also in demand as a highly flexible and innovative supplier for yacht, ship and special shipbuilding. The technology leader in the 3D cold forming of sheet metal manufactures highly complex assemblies and structures on behalf of shipbuilding companies in Germany and abroad. In July, for example, a 13.5 tonne deck superstructure for a mega yacht left the company by ship for a Dutch shipyard.

In order to be able to continue to realise the increasingly demanding orders in terms of technology and dimensions on time and to the required quality, Ostseestaal leased an additional production hall on the neighbouring site of the new Volkswerft Maritime Industrial and Commercial Park in April of this year. This has increased the company's own production area by around 30 per cent. Among other things, complex vendor parts for yacht construction are manufactured under the roof of the hall.

Ostseestaal employs around 200 people. The company specialises in the manufacture and supply of custom-fit kits made from cut-to-size and three-dimensionally formed sheet metal. Materials of the highest quality such as steel, stainless steel, aluminium and special alloys are processed. Ostseestaal is active on the global market for shipbuilding, industry, renewable energies and architectural projects and supplies products worldwide on a turnkey basis.

Facts & figures about the Zurich ferry