Shipyards in Mallorca remain at 100% occupation

After more than a thousand visits on its first day, the Balearic Yacht Show has begun its second day of virtual fair, with a round table on restoration and maintenance of boats in the Balearics with Ralph Dazert, director of Marketing Intelligence of Superyacht Times, as moderator and the intervention of Victor Perez, commercial director of Astilleros de Mallorca; Toni Salom, president of the Balearic Marine Cluster; Carlos Albons, production director of STP Shipyard Palma; William Kaye, captain of the M/Y Coral Ocean; and Rupert Savage, commercial director of the GYG group.

The unanimous opinion of the participants in this debate was that the Balearic Islands, and more specifically Palma, is a unique enclave for the restoration and maintenance of all types of boats thanks to its local industry and complementary offer.

Carlos Albons (STP) has referred on several occasions to "teamwork" as the true strength of the marine industry in the Balearics. "The most important thing is that all the work required by the client can be done in one place and this is achieved thanks to the fact that in Mallorca we have companies of all types," he said.

In this sense, Rupert Savage (GYG) has recognized that for international companies, its essential to have a presence, and if possible establish a base, in the Balearics. "Mallorca has a complementary industry that helps international clients and companies want to come and be here".

For his part, Victor Pérez (Astilleros de Mallorca) has recalled that we are facing an "open market" and although the local industry is strong and powerful enough, "it is always positive that companies from outside come to settle in Mallorca". Likewise, Pérez has highlighted the local work: "During these months of pandemic and state of alarm, we have been able to continue working in the projects that we had in progress, thanks to the local industry and the foreign companies that have their headquarters here. Otherwise it would have been impossible to keep the shipyards open in such a complicated times at an international level".

With the perspective of what 2021 will be like, Toni Salom (Balearic Marine Cluster) predicts "a season that will start earlier than usual". Salom has indicated that "there are many boats that have not passed through the shipyards this year" because many have not been used, so on their next visit, they will have to make more time for maintenance or reform works.

More works and more complex

Both STP and Astilleros de Mallorca are at full capacity and getting a place in their facilities is not easy, and even less so in the short term. The idea of "educating" the client in how and when to face his passage through a shipyard has been highlighted by the speakers, who agree that the ideal, both for companies and for users, is that there is a periodic program of maintenance and refit of boats, which would also avoid problems for the owners in the medium and short term.

Victor Pérez has explained that "the fact of being always full -in reference to Astilleros de Mallorca- makes the client learn to book in advance and this helps us to understand better how the season will be, to better plan the projects we will carry out and to know how many people we will need to carry them out".

Yacht Captain William Kaye has confirmed this by sharing his own experience with the work being done on the M/Y Coral Ocean at STP. "It is a challenge to find the space and calculate accurately, the time you will need to get all the work you want done. From the client's point of view, the level of professionalism in the Balearic Islands is excellent and growing every year," he said.

When asked if the sector is moving more towards maintenance or refit, Víctor Pérez and Carlos Albons pointed out that the market is at 50/50 but that most of the turnover comes from refits. "In the end, the most important thing is that everything can be done at the same time and that the times of each project can be adhered to, so that the next project, can start on time", remarked Albons.

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