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Damen closes in on Mangalia

Romania’s largest shipbuilder could be bought by Damen Shipyards. Mangalia, owned by restructuring Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, has been on the auction block for more than a year as the Korean yard slims down its overseas assets.

Korean media are now reporting that Dutch firm Damen is holding final talks about buying the yard. Damen already has a shipyard in Romania.

The Romanian government has been anxious to find a buyer for Mangalia as its orderbook has diminished rapidly over the past 18 months with concern growing that it might be closed down.

Founded in 1997, Mangalia is a 51:49 joint venture between DSME and the Romanian government.

As well as building bulkers, tankers and boxships, Mangalia is also a significant repair yard. With the closure of Maersk’s Odense yard in 2012, Mangalia can claim to be Europe’s premier yard for containership construction.

Earlier this week, Damen completed the acquisition of Rotterdam yard Keppel Verolme from Singapore’s Keppel Offshore & Marine for €23.5m ($26.85m).

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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