“We are taking these measures to provide the best possible protection for the people working at our shipyard,” Alex Gregg-Smith, Managing Director of Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft, explained.

“It is our aim to restart once the acute coronavirus threat has ended and to get operations back up and running again as quickly as possible. By taking this action now we believe that the interests of all parties are best protected.”

As a result of the spread of Covid-19 in Europe, many countries have closed their borders and are recalling their citizens from abroad. According to the shipbuilder, this directly affects FSG and its subcontractors, suppliers as well as shipping company representatives at the yard.

FSG further said that an application has already been made to the Federal Employment Agency extension of short-time work.

A few days ago, Italian shipbuilding major Fincantieri also suspended production activities at its Italian shipyards as a precautionary measure aimed at countering the potential spread of COVID-19.