Sailing Yacht A Builder Nobiskrug Files for Insolvency

The German shipyard cites a number of reasons, including internal decision-making, for its move to insolvency.

German media outlets are reporting that Rendsburg-based shipyard Nobiskrug, famous for building the world’s largest sailing yacht (and one of the world's biggest yachts), has filed for insolvency.

Insolvency proceedings began yesterday, with Nobiskrug citing ‘critical developments’ in yacht construction, earlier management decisions and the Coronavirus pandemic as key factors in the decision.

Nobiskrug is part of the international shipbuilding group Privinvest and was behind the build of the 142.8m (468ft) Sailing Yacht A in 2017. Other German shipyards Naval Yards Kiel and Lindenau-Werft are also part of the group but are not affected by Nobiskrug’s decision to file for insolvency.

There has been uncertainty around the long-term future of Nobiskrug for a number of months now. In September last year it announced it was cutting 120 jobs from its 470 strong workforce. However, Hendrik Gridmann, who has been appointed as the temporary insolvency administrator, stressed insolvency doesn’t necessarily mean the end of a company, but the chance for a debt-free new start. For now, Insolvency proceedings are ongoing.

Superyacht ARTEFACT on water
Nobiskrug was behind the build of ARTEFACT in 2020, which includes a huge amount of glass in its build © Nobiskrug

Nobiskrug was founded in 2005 and since then has constructed more than 750 vessels. Aside from building Sailing Yacht A, which remains one of the top 10 largest yachts in the world overall, other notable yachts it has delivered include 92.4m (303ft) TATOOSH and 80m (262.5ft) ARTEFACT, which is believed to have the highest ratio of glass to LOA for any yacht in her size bracket.

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