CMN to stop superyacht construction

Sources at the French shipyard CMN have told SuperyachtNews.com that CMN’s yachting division has put been put on ice. According to our source, the Cherbourg yard will now concentrate on the development of its military and civilian range of ships. This news will have have come as a blow to the French superyacht sector, with CMN a significant player for the country. 



CMN is a part of the Abu Dhabi MAR Group (ADM Group), owned jointly by Privinvest and the Al Ain International Group LLC. The Group has made significant investment into shipyard facilities in recent years. In addition to CMN, the Group has also invested in the Nobiskrug, Abu Dhabi MAR and Hellenic Shipyards yards in Germany, Abu Dhabi and Greece. A move to add the German Thyssenkrupp yard to their portfolio fell through in 2011 after extended negotiations. SuperyachtNews.com contacted the directors of the Group for an official statement regarding the changes at CMN, but received no response.



With this change at CMN, suggestions are that superyacht work coming to the Group will now go to Nobiskrug.The German yard is busy with superyacht work including a confidential >100m sailing yacht order (Hull 787), and 73m Hull 423. Meanwhile over in Abu Dhabi, at the Abu Dhabi MAR facility, completion work is still underway on 141m Yas, which launched at the end of 2011. In addition to Yas, the yard classified a 54m Catamaran, and 52.8m Dhow as ‘on hold’ in the Annual Report. It is not known whether any superyacht work will continue at the UAE yard after the delivery of Yas.

Although reasoning behind ADM Group’s decision to halt yacht building at CMN has not been revealed, the lack of orders placed at the yard in recent years could be some explanation for the change to operations at CMN. The yard's most recent launches were in 2009, when they launched both 60m Slipstream (Hull 801) and 60m Cloud 9 (Hull 802).



Work on two spec projects - 60m Hull 803, which features exterior and interior design work by Andrew Winch, and 44m Hull 868 - had begun but as of the 2013 Annual Report both were classed as 'on hold' and awaiting a buyer before progressing any further. A range of concepts, including Project Scorpio by Bannenberg & Rowell and Project Panache by Eidsgaard Design, had also been on offer by the yard. Whether these will be made available for construction at another of the ADM Group yards is not known. 





We will continue to report on the changes at CMN as we learn more.

Related Profiles

Abu Dhabi MAR

CMN

Nobiskrug

---

Click here to become part of The Superyacht Group community, and join us in our mission to make this industry accessible to all, and prosperous for the long-term. We are offering access to the superyacht industry’s most comprehensive and longstanding archive of business-critical information, as well as a comprehensive, real-time superyacht fleet database, for just £10 per month, because we are One Industry with One Mission. Sign up here.