Papenburg, 05.01.2005 - Today at 12 o'clock sharp, all employees of MEYER WERFT convened in order to keep a minute's silence in commemoration of the victims of the flood in Asia. In this way, some 3,000 people participated in an initiative of the EU council presidency according to which everyday life should come to a standstill for three minutes in all 25 EU member countries.

Meanwhile an initiative has been launched which is themed "Zwei Regionen - eine Werft: Gemeinsame Hilfe für die Flutopfer" (two regions - one shipyard: joint effort to help the victims of the flood). In this first measure, which is conducted with approval of the Consulate General of Indonesia in Hamburg and in cooperation with local authorities, donations such as summer clothes, shoes, blankets and tents will be collected at MEYER WERFT gates 1, 2 and 3 on Thursday, 6 January, and Friday, 7 January 2005. These donations will be packed in containers and dispatched to Indonesia to give people in the area of Aceh, which was hit hardest by the catastrophe, quick relief. "We can hardly grasp the misery caused by the natural disaster that struck people in the Indian Ocean area. We see the pictures, and we realise we have to help," Mr. Hans-Artur Wilker, managing director of the shipyard, said in his address to the staff.

Mr. Helmut Plöger, head of the works council, called upon the employees to joint this relief initiative in order to alleviate the hardship of those living in the affected regions.