Maersk`s Odense yard to discontinue shipbuilding

THE board of the Odense Steel Shipyard, Denmark`s biggest shipbuilder and a unit AP Moller-Maersk Group, has announced it will stop shipbuilding once current orders have been fulfilled.
"The present workforce will be continuously downsized to accommodate production," said a company statement..
Outstanding orders, five bulk carriers, seven ro-ro ships and three naval frigates, extend to August 2010, November 2011 and February 2012, but 175 workers are surplus to requirements now and will be laid off by September 1.
"The yard has run up considerable deficits and it is impossible to attract orders, which are commercially sound," said Odense chairman Lars-Erik Brenoe.
Last October, the Odense launched the 7,000-TEU Mette Maersk. In September, the company put its Loksa Shipyard in Estonia up for sale as part of a streamlining drive.