Both San Giorgio del Porto (SGdP) and Chantier Naval de Marseille (CNM), sister companies within the Genova Industrie Naval group, maintained healthy volumes of business during 2022
The past year at SGdP and CNM witnessed similar trends to 2021, as the yards sustained their recovery after the pandemic. In particular both yards were able to consolidate their business activities in the cruise market, handling a number of significant projects for leading cruise ship operators. Aida Stella was for example a recent visitor to CNM, for classification required works and a major paint job, among others.
A large cruise ship cabin refurbishment project was also recently completed in Marseille, a project that the company says was challenging in terms of time and the volume of containers that needed to be handled. Paolo Trombetta, group marketing officer, says: “Thanks to the excellent infrastructure in Marseille the result was very successful. Overall the cruise market has slowed down a bit this year, but we are confident of returning to 2022 levels in 2024 and this sector will continue to be a focal point for us.”
Cruise ship work remains a core business stream for both SGdP and CNM
The two yards have also seen an upturn in offshore related work. CNM started 2023 by carrying out a significant work scope for the cable layer, Saipem Castorone, while SGdP has docked the crane ship Saipem FDS 2 in Genoa. Ferry work has also continued to hold up well for both yards, while naval clients have provided significant work streams. A recent visitor to the drydocks in Genoa for example was USS Mount Whitney.
Trombetta says: “We are always optimistic about the future as we work in different market segments, thereby spreading the risk. At the moment we are discussing several interesting projects with a number of clients, and we expect to close 2023 with a positive trend. We are also seeing a continuous demand for projects to decrease emissions and to make ships’ performance more efficient in order to safeguard the environment, and we are working with several shipowners to find solutions to meet this growing requirement.”
The past year has seen some notable investments in the CNM yard in particular, including the installation of a new dock gate for the Drydock 10 facility in the port of Marseille. This was constructed jointly by SGdP and Piombino Industrie Maritime and involved 1,600tons of steel, 60tons of piping and a new automated ballast system, designed to be able to close the drydock in less than 35 minutes.
The group has, furthermore, acquired an additional area of about 40,000m2 in Marseille, so that CMN has even more space to devote to large refurbishment projects and to also give shipowners’ subcontractors the opportunity to have a larger area for pre-assembly work.
Looking ahead the GIN group says it plans to explore new market segments to diversify activities and take advantage of the complementary nature of the SGdP and CNM shipyards. These, it points out, boast a mix of know-how and facilities suitable for a wide range of ship repair and refurbishment projects.
