Members of the Budget Committee told the German lower house and Lower Saxony's state parliament on Wednesday that they had approved the rescue of Meyer Werft - one of the largest cruise ship builders in the world.

The shipbuilder has a financing gap of almost 2.8 billion euros ($3.1 billion), due to the delayed effect of the COVID-19 epidemic.

Why is it important?

Meyer Werft is being rescued by the German government, Lower Saxony in northwest Germany, and the Lower Saxony state to save thousands of jobs for the Emsland area, which has a structurally fragile economy.

The family-owned shipbuilder has been in business for 229 years and supports 17,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Disney, the U.S. entertainment company, is listed as one of Meyer Werft's main clients. It built the Disney Dream in 2010 and 2011 and the Disney Fantasy in 2011, the two largest ocean liners made by Germany.

By the Numbers

The German Federal and State governments will invest 400 millions euros ($442million) in Meyer Werft to take 80% of the company.

This plan includes guarantees of 2.6 billion Euros in loans.

KEY QUOTES

"Meyer Werft has one of the most advanced and largest shipyards in all the world." Robert Habeck, German Economy Minister, said that the shipyard is of enormous importance to German shipbuilding.

Andreas Mattfeldt of the Christian Democrats CDU said that it was a temporary assistance, and added that the shipbuilder had a successful business.

Sven-Christian Kindler, a green politician from Germany, said that there are many jobs at stake in this industry and it is a major one for Germany.

Kindler stated that an agreement was now expected this week.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The final details must be clarified in order to confirm the package in writing within the next few weeks. Reporting by Christian Kraemer and Klaus Lauer, Editing and Revision by Rachel More, Alexander Smith and Alexander Smith.

(source: Reuters)