The German government is working on a deal to secure the future of Meyer Werft, a 229-year-old shipyard and one of the world's largest cruise ship builders, Chancellor Olaf Scholz assured workers during a visit to the company on Thursday, Reuters reports.

"We all want to secure the continued existence of the shipyard—and with it everything that depends on it," Scholz said at a meeting of the works council.

He described Meyer Werft as an "industrial crown jewel" for Germany and praised the company's ships as "small cities" requiring a range of complex skills to build.

Scholz did not comment on the details of the plan, but said any solution would need approvals from German parliament and the European Commission.