Schichau Seebeckwerft (often abbreviated SSW) was a German

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befo ...

company, headquartered in

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Riv ...

. The name comes from the 1988 merger of Schichau with Seebeckwerft.

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 Ber ...

in Elbing (Elbląg) as F. Schichau. It started by manufacturing steam engines and heavy equipment, later locomotives. 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 ( pl, Stocznia Gdańska, formerly Lenin Shipyard) is a large Polish shipyard, located in the city of Gdańsk. The yard gained international fame when Solidarity () was founded there in September 1980. It is situated on the w ...

after 1945). In 1929 the shipyard was bought by the German government. In 1930 the company also bought a small yard in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was name ...

. 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 is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

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

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, sunk in 1987) * 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