Lürssen

History

On 27 June 1875 the 24 year-old Friedrich Lürssen set up a boatbuilding workshop in Aumund, a suburb of Bremen, Germany. The focus of work in the first years was on work boats for fishing and ferry operations. Hull number one was a five meter long rowboat. From the 1880s Lürssen opened up the sport boat market. In 1886 the first motorboat in the world was built by Lürssen (according to his own account).

In 2016 Lürssen acquired shipbuilding company Blohm+Voss in a long-term partnership.

On 1 March 2018, a German consortium consisting of Thyssen Krupp and Lürssen was excluded by the German government from the tender for the construction of the multi-purpose warship MKS 180 for the benefit of GNY (German Naval Yards), belonging to the Prinvinvest group, and the Dutch shipbuilder Damen.

On 14 September 2018, a fire broke out in the floating dock at Fähr-Lobbendorf, burning the then-under construction structure of the yacht Sassi. With around 900 emergency services deployed, it was the largest deployment of the Bremen fire brigade in the post-war period. The damage was estimated at more than 610 million euros.

On 29 September 2021, Peter Lürssen, owner of Blohm+Voss, announced downsizing of the company, from the ~ 580 workers, more than 100 would leave the company, the docks were to be reviewed, no more cruise ships would be renewed in Hamburg, nor tankers and container ships. B+V was to stay only with the NVL defence ships and the yachts business. The area of installations was to be reduced as well. The Department of Projects of New Buildings was dissolved.

In June 2025, Lürssen's Australian operation was sold to Civmec.

History of naval shipbuilding by NVL

Naval ships built by Lürssen in the past include:

Many E-boats of World War II, based on Lürssen's design for Otto Hermann Kahn's private yacht Oheka II