Gdansk: It is a fact that ship repair yards around the world are not short of work, but short on decent returns for their hard work. For instance, a recent study by our sister title SinoShip magazine found that roughly four in five repair yards in China are losing money.
While not reporting figures in the red, Gdansk Shiprepair Yard, also known as Remontowa, is seeing revenues slip.
Zbigniew Andruszkiewicz, a member of the board at Remontowa, admits to Maritime CEO that despite the bigger total number of vessels visiting his yard in the first half of 2013, the turnover has been smaller than in the same period in 2012 and 2011. Ships visiting tend to be younger too, he notes.
Andruszkiewicz is not too concerned however. “The fact that the number of the vessels is bigger and still increasing is very optimistic so we shouldn’t complain about tough financial times,” he says.
Remontowa has recently bought a barge capable of lifting sizeable rigs, the latest infrastructure addition to what is the largest repair facility in Poland and one of the largest in Europe handling up to 200 vessels a year on its seven floating docks.
The yard is part of Remontowa Group which is also in constructing newbuilds focusing on anchor handlers, platform supply vessels and double ended, LNG-fuelled ferries. The shipyard was established in 1952 and privatised 12 years ago. [09/07/13]
