Nordseewerke with the inland port of Emden in the foreground seen from the southwest in 2010
Nordseewerke Emden GmbH (sometimes abbreviated NSWE, in English: North Sea Company) was a shipbuilding company, located in the Emden Harbor of the north German city of Emden. Founded in 1903, shipbuilding ended in 2010, and the company was taken over by the Schaaf Industrie AG,[1] which among other products, makes components for off-shore systems.
The shipyard employed some 1,400 people in 2010 and was the second-largest employer in Emden, following the plant of the Volkswagen automotive company. Today only few of the former coworkers of the shipyard are still employed with the new owner Schaaf, which also went insolvent in 2012.[citation needed]
Nordseewerke was founded on March 11, 1903, and was one of the oldest among the still-existing shipyards in Germany. Its successor was the Schaaf Industrie AG. The company built merchant ships of all categories, but also ships for the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I, the Kriegsmarine later, and today's modern Deutsche Marine.
The shipyard has also constructed ships for use by other navies, such as the Kobben (Type 207) and Ula (Klasse 210)-class submarines for the Royal Norwegian Navy, which were built to operate in shallow, coastal waters. In the past 20 years, submarines were also exported to South Africa, Argentina (TR-1700-class submarine), and Israel.
Besides container and other freight-carrying ships, Nordseewerke also built naval vessels. In 1971, the cruise liner Sea Venture (later renamed the Pacific Princess) was constructed. The ship is well known as the film location of The Love Boat.
1986, reconstruction of the Soviet icebreaker Mudyug with new technology (among them Thyssen-Waas Bow and Air Bubble System); followed icebreaker Kapitan Sorokin
