Schichau Seebeckwerft (often abbreviated SSW) was a German

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

company, headquartered in

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

. The name comes from the 1988 merger of Schichau with

Seebeckwerft Seebeckwerft A.G. was a German shipbuilding company, located in Bremerhaven at the mouth of the river Weser. Founded in 1876, it became one of the leading shipbuilding companies in the region. History Seebeckwerft was founded in 1876 in Bremer ...

History

The original company Schichau was founded in 1837 by

Ferdinand Schichau Ferdinand Gottlob Schichau (30 January 1814 – 23 January 1896) was a German mechanical engineer and businessman. Schichau was born in Elbing, West Prussia (modern Elbląg, Poland) to a smith and iron worker. He studied engineering in Be ...

in Elbing (Elbląg) as F. Schichau. It started by manufacturing steam engines and heavy equipment, later

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

s. In 1854 Schichau built a shipyard in Elbing.Nitka, Andrzej: ''Przedsiębiorstwo stoczniowe F. Schichau. Elbląg-Piława-Gdańsk-Ryga-Królewiec. Zarys dziejów 1837-1945'' in: Morze, Statki i Okręty nr. 6/2007, p. 62-71 A new large shipyard in Danzig was opened in 1890 (later becoming a part of the Polish

Gdańsk Shipyard The Gdańsk Shipyard (, formerly Lenin Shipyard) is a large Polish shipyard, located in the city of Gdańsk, northern Poland. The yard gained international fame when Polish trade union Solidarity () was founded there in September 1980. It is sit ...

after 1945). In 1929 the shipyard was bought by the German government. Another shipyard was completed in 1906 near

. In 1930 the company also bought a small yard in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

. After 1945 shipyards in Danzig, Königsberg and Elbing were found on the Soviet and Polish territories, and the company restarted business in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

, merging with the Schiffbaugesellschaft Unterweser in 1972 to become Schichau Unterweser and with

in 1988 to become Schichau Seebeckwerft. The company was then bought by

Bremer Vulkan Bremer Vulkan AG was a prominent German shipbuilding company located at the Weser river in Bremen-Vegesack. It was founded in 1893 and closed in 1997 because of financial problems and mismanagement. All together Bremer Vulkan built about 1100 s ...

and initially closed in 1996. The new ''SSW Schichau Seebeck Shipyard GmbH'', founded in 1998, was closed in 2009. With its long history of major shipbuilding, the company is also known as Schichau-Werft, or Schichau Seebeck Shipyard ( Werft meaning

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

Ships built by Schichau Seebeckwerft (selection)

Civilian ships

* M/S BEWA Discoverer, (1974) * M/S Pride of Free Enterprise, (1979) * M/S Spirit of Free Enterprise, (1979) * M/S Herald of Free Enterprise, (1980, Capsized off Zeebrugge, Belgium on 6th March 1987 and Scrapped in Kaoshiung, Taiwan) * M/S Olau Hollandia, (1989) * M/S Olau Britannia, (1990) * M/S European Pathway, (1991) * M/S European Seaway, (1991) * M/S European Highway, (1992) * M/S Pride of Burgundy, (1993) * M/S Superfast I, (1995) * M/S Superfast II, (1995) The following vessels are often cited as being built by Schichau Seebeckwerft, but were actually designed and built by A.G. Weser Seebeckwerft prior to the merger with Schichau Unterweser * M/S Olau Hollandia, (1981) * M/S Olau Britannia, (1982) * M/S Peter Pan, (1986) * M/S Nils Holgersson, (1987)

References

External links

Homepage of ''Schichau Seebeckwerft''
Shipbuilding companies of Germany German companies established in 1837 Defence companies of Germany Defunct locomotive manufacturers of Germany Manufacturing companies based in Bremen (state) Companies based in Bremerhaven Manufacturing companies established in 1837 {{Germany-company-stub