Newbuilding orders at German shipyards remain at near record levels due largely to the ongoing boom in cruiseship orders, although long-established Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft has had to be bailed out of a liquidity crisis.

Full-year figures for 2018 have still to be published by the German Shipbuilding and Ocean Industries Association (VSM), but chief executive Reinhard Luken still expects the total to be around the all-time high of about €20bn ($22.6bn)