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Size matters! – VOLK vehicles are used in the
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construction of megayachts
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Lemwerder, 27.02.2009 – The current economic crisis has already
rendered many dogmas invalid. One of those principles now proven to be wrong is the belief that luxury goods are less vulnerable to economic downturns than other segments has now also been proven wrong.
The manufacturers of
premium and sports cars have been hit particularly hard. Widely diversified luxury goods conglomerates, whose products often range from noble handbags to designer clothing to luxury watches, are also confronted with a significant drop
in sales. And e-
ven the leading trade fair worldwide for yachting, the “Boot” in Düsseldorf, recorded a decrease in visitors this year. Only the market segment for so-called mega-
yachts, oceangoing yachts with a
length of more than 200 feet (approx. 60 meters), has proved resistant to economic swings thus far.
The reason for this may be that luxury yachts are often regarded as the ultimate status symbol. Wealth and pre-
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Abeking & Rasmussen – The shipyard enjoys an excellent reputation for its first-rate design and high technical quality and
achieves approximate-
ly 120 million Euros of turnover with its 600 employees
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stige of the owner are demonstrated here in an archaic but also
measurable way, namely in feet or meters. Anwhile the economic crisis naturally hasn’t left the fortunes of the super-rich unscathed, leading to turbulence in the wealth ranking lists of the relevant business magazines, the ranking
lists of the yachting magazines have proved more re-
sistant to the economy: Here the ranking order of the super-rich has remained largely stable.
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VOLK IndustrialTrailer with Caterpillar 3516 ship engine – The 16-cylinder unit has a rating of almost 1.500 KW, weighs
approximately eight tons and is painted completely white for optical reasons
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For the past three years, the top rank has belonged to
the 524-foot-long (160 meters)
“Dubai“, the state yacht of theemirate with the same name. Ranks two to four are also in the hands of ruling Arabian families. The foun-
ders of two American software companies are also among the Top Ten. In ranks 10 to
20 are mainly Rus-
sian oligarchs and the prominent Greek shipowner fa-
milies. Germany, however, is far behind in the national ranking.
As a consolation, most of the megayachts are at least produced by German shipyards.
One of the most re-
nowned is Abeking & Rasmussen in Lemwerder near Bremerhaven. The shipyard enjoys an excellent reputa-
tion in its circles for its high-class design and the out-
standing technical construction of the yachts manufac-
tured here.
The yachts are produced in five gigantic hangars directly on the banks of the Weser. The ships’ hulls are built
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completely on rail cars, so that they can be moved out of the hangar when finished and then set into
the water with a hoist. However, before this can happen, a great deal must be done: Several hundred employees work for up to three years on the construction of a yacht. The hull is usually manufactured completely of steel. The mounts on
the yacht, on the other hand, are made of aluminium in order to achieve a good center of weight.
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Just the priming, grinding and painting of the gigantic steel hull takes up to three quarters of
a year. The re-
ward for this toil is an absolutely smooth, perfect hull surface. Like at a construction site, the multi-story hull is surrounded by a scaffolding during the entire production process. During the grinding and painting
work, this is additionally enveloped in plastic foil and sealed so that paint vapors and fine dust can be suctioned away more easily. The giant plastic hood, illuminated inside, re-
minds you in this assembly phase of a creation of
the wrapping artist Christo.
The interior construction of the ships is usually carried out in close agreement with the interior designer of the owner. Here precious woods, natural stones and and a great deal of leather are used.
Golden faucets, on the other hand, are not often to be found. These classic signs of wealth have had to make way for a new practi-
cality in the form of increased use of chrome and stain-
less steel. Only for yacht owners from the Russian and
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VOLK Diesel Platform Truck DFW 6 with load-through platform – In the background of the picture, the scaffolding enveloped in
plastic foil can be seen, with which the building-high hull receives its last finishing touch
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Arabian worlds does gold remain the ultimate and undisputable proof of wealth and is thus still in high demand.
For the transport of the yacht components and parts, Abeking & Rasmussen relies on diesel platform trucks and industrial trailers from VOLK. While sometimes entire ship engines with a weight of up to 15 tons are transported on
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The 78-meter yacht Eminence at anchor in the Weser – The striking con-
trast between the elegant boot design and the sober
architecture of the shipyard buildings already offers a hint: The place of birth of this mega-
yacht may be Lemwerder, but its real home is the most beautiful harbors of the world.
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the trailers, the diesel platform truck iused more for “light“ loads of up to six tons.
A load-through platform allows here for the transport of oversized components and long materials. To make the entry into the inside of the shipyard halls possible, the vehicle is equipped with a diesel particle filter. A road permit
allows for the cross-
ing of a public road which divides the shipyard area.
Especially important for Abeking & Rasmussen’s pur-
chase decision was also the high drawbar pull of 20.000 N. An average of once or
twice a year, the vehicle is used for an important task: Since the wheel bearings of the rail cars sometimes become stuck during the long con-
struction period, the vehicle, which can easily hold its own with a 30-ton diesel tow
truck in terms of drawbar pull, must help pull the rail car free when a yacht con-
struction has been completed.
Despite the current economic crisis, Abeking & Ras-
mussen has numerous yacht projects in its order books
and will work at capacity well beyond the year 2010. This confirms the initial observation that the economic crisis has not yet reached the market for super-luxury yachts.
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The example of Abeking & Rasmussen makes it clear that VOLK’s widely diversified and
unusually broad customer portfolio is of great advantage during the current economic downturn. And this proves that an elementary principle of economic theory is still valid even in these days, namely that it pays off not to have all your eggs in one basket.
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The shipyard premises of Abeking & Rasmussen in Lemwerder – In each of the five gigantic hangars, a megayacht is produced in two
to three years of handicraft
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