Business activities at the Malta shipyards since last June
The acquisition of the Maltese shipyard, which can accommodate ships up to 300,000 dwt, is a huge project for the[ds_preview] Palumbo Group and it will significantly shape the company‘s future. Along with repair work, the new shipyard has a great potential – especially with regard to its location in the centre of the Mediterranean, with access to ships en route from the East to the Atlantic and vice versa.
Malta Shipyard acquisition has projected Palumbo onto an international platform involving not only ship repair and conversion activities, but also construction of luxury yachts. Especially further to the recent acquisition of another yard in Malta fully dedicated to Superyacht repair and refitting.
Nowadays the company‘s ambition is to create a successful axis via the Malta-Messina-Naples yards, as a primary shipbuilding and repair centre in the heart of Mediterranean, giving an appropriate chance to owners of a quality service without the need of extra expenses due to deviations.
Since June 2010, Palumbo Malta Shipyard has carried out works on more than 150 vessels coming from all over the world and also from the most important shipping companies.
The total area of the grant to Palumbo is about 220,000 m2, with four dry docks of 360 x 62 m, 262 x 40 m, 216 x 27 m, and 98 x 35 m respectively, and almost 2,000 m of quays for berthing. With the new acquired Maltese docks (ranging from 20,000 t to 300,000 dwt) in addition to the other docks owned by the company, Palumbo will now be able to cover the entire area of world tonnage.
A good business decision
The acquisition of Malta Shipyard has been a good business decision mainly because it allowed the group to be projected on an international platform. In fact, Palumbo is a family company which has been involved in offering repair services in the maritime repair sector since the 1960s. In 2006, the company’s expansion started with the acquisition of Messina Shipyard. Continuous customer demanding enquiries together with the higher complexity of the job required the availability of new and larger facilities.
Therefore, after extending from Naples to Messina, last year the group has also further extended to Malta, at first with Malta Shipyard and since last March also with Malta Superyacht. The island is strategically well placed have a slight deviation of direction on the route leading from the Straits of Gibraltar to the Suez Canal.
Activities carried out at Malta Shipyard
Since the first day of operation, in Malta there were activities ranging from normal docking works to particular operations such as main engine overhauls, turbo-charges and governor repairs, extensive repairs on crude oil tankers, full services deep well pumps using cryogenic practices on LPG/C tankers, bow thrusters, dismantling and remounting and electrical motors re-winding and overhauls and main electrical board repairs. Steel work was carried out in way of sheer strakes /decks / double hull / double bottom / two way shaping in way of aft and frd areas and also new construction of entire structures.
Continuing investments in Malta
The company‘s plan is to invest in the facilities in order to upgrade and improve the site and achieve even better quality standards, thus reaching the optimization of working time for owners‘ satisfaction. Palumbo therefore intends to reverse the negative trend of Malta Shipyard unreliability, due to the former management maybe for wrong decisions taken, recovering the historical know-how and the considerable potential that Malta, not only as shipyard but mainly as nation, had in the recent past. The shipyards of course have a very good impact on the global economic situation of the Maltese Islands and further to these acquisition Palumbo intends to attract ship-owners back to the central Mediterranean market.
Palumbo Italian yards: notable projects
The company’s diversification from the core business of repairs and refits began with the establishment of a new division handling construction of mega luxury yachts in the Naples Shipyard. Palumbo team has been working on hulls and large ship interiors for the past 40 years, so the company became well-versed in the skills and know-how essential for the construction of luxury mega yachts, putting forward production methods that highlight how advanced the company is, from an innovation standpoint, when compared to the other historical established shipyards operating in this field.
At present, the first two yachts are under construction at the Naples Shipyard. The first one, Columbus 177 »Prima«, has been already completed and was launched end of June. The second, just started, is a 55 m Yacht. We have also designed an entire line of Columbus Yachts ranging from 120’ to 245’.
Investment plans and prospects for the yards in 2011 / 2012
The vision of the Group for the new facilities in Malta is to further develop the current capabilities into a leading, repair and maintenance centre serving the vessels fleet in the Mediterranean thus offering a new opportunity for both customers and the shipping industry in general. This goal should be achieved through its continuing committed investment and development of human resources. The back-up and support available through its network of infrastructure and expertise should enable Palumbo Group to offer a wider range of services able to meet the most varied and complex requirements of the customers.
The recent economic crisis has undoubtedly hit the shipbuilding and repair sector more or less. Flexibility and optimization of working procedures have been two of the best strategies that Palumbo Group feels have helped itself to ride out a storm that has brought even large international groups to their knees. Furthermore, the creation of a very professional team over the years that the yard has been in operation, and the innovation that was shown during this time, has clearly also been crucial – not only to our survival, but also to our success. Creativity, professionalism and technology are the strong basis upon which the group has grown over the years.
Ship owners are getting more pointed on the real, concrete dynamics of production – rather than following temporary trends. »This focus, in turn, allows us to reduce costs and respond promptly to the demands of the market«, Palumbo explained.
»Good intuition and understanding on how better to react to changes and the changing needs of clients will be ever-more crucial in the coming years. Our ongoing trend is to invest in new ideas and in youth, to whom we offer the maximum space for expression in the corporate context.«
Palumbo Group plans to create a Naples-Messina-Malta axis, a sort of network to attract ship-owners back to the central Mediterranean market both for ship repair activities and for superyacht refitting.
