Annual Report 2007 - Muehlhan AG

Continued and consistently good business
performance expected
during the past year, the Ship Newbuilding business division
provided a strong contribution to sales, primarily
through our German and European subsidiary companies.
We see very good opportunities for development throughout
the Group in the coming years, both for Europe and for
asia. Since the middle of 2007, Muehlhan has been represented
by a subsidiary company in what is anticipated to
be a large market in the future: China.
in addition to the ship market controlled by cargo and
commodities, great importance will be attached to the
construction of luxury yachts: Even today, the capacities
of our shipyard customers in this specialty segment are
booked up for the next five to six years.
Muehlhan anticipates good opportunities to consolidate
and expand its share of the newbuilding market at
a high level.
ship repair
ManaGeMent divisions share Group ManaGeMent report Group Consolidated FinanCial stateMents
Segment benefits from the
newbuilding boom of recent years
the newbuilding activity of today is also the repair business
of the future. a ship plies the world’s oceans for nearly
three decades. after the fourth year, a regular repair
and maintenance cycle commences which represents a
demand for inspection and renovation every ten years
for water ballast tanks and every three to five years for
underwater surfaces. We evaluate this demand using
professional resources, and through our international
subsidiary companies we implement the necessary measures
in a manner such that we provide rapid, optimal
service to customers along shipping and transport routes.
through appropriate planning in advance, and speed in
the maintenance and coating work, we ensure that negative
effects on the regular use of a ship will be minimised
to the greatest possible extent. all activities are performed
in strict compliance with the internationally-binding guidelines.
for this purpose we train our employees throughout
the Group to be coating inspectors through Germanischer
lloyd, and have them certified.
Future significance of the strategically important
repair markets in the Middle East and in Asia
today, far many more ships are starting their life cycles as
newbuildings than are being broken up. the market data
have shown this relationship for years. accordingly, the
ship repair market has grown very strongly in the last few
years.
Muehlhan was also able to participate in the general increase
in demand in the ship repair market. Currently, there
are clear indications that this trend will continue the coming
years. Even if there is an intermediate-term weakness in
the capacities of our newbuilding customers, business for
surfacing services will still be tremendous for decades in
the field of maintenance and repair.
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