Shipyards have not received any orders in months

Shipbuilders on the Romanian market, with over 900 million euros in turnover in 2008, are in an unprecedented situation, having received no order since the beginning of the year, with prospects for the rest of the year also rather bleak. Romania’s seven largest shipyards had until last year been swamped with orders and operating at full capacity. At the time, their main problem was the lack of skilled personnel. The shipyards are currently busy thanks to contracts sealed in the past years, considering that the entire production process takes more than a year. However, starting next year, they might have to scale back their operations. The seven shipbuilders, which employ over 17,700 staff in all, are considering redundancies for the first time. “It is very likely that no major order will be placed in the shipbuilding sector. As far as I know, there have been no orders for maritime ships this year. New orders would necessarily have to be placed some time early next year, in order to prevent the sector from running into major problems,” says Radu Rusen, president of the National Association of Shipbuilders (ANCONAV). He is also general manager of the Constanta Shipyard, the second largest shipyard in terms of turnover in 2008, with over 150 million euros. This is the only major shipyard controlled by a Romanian entrepreneur, businessman Constantin Bosanceanu. The other major players are Daewoo Mangalia, STK Offshore Tulcea and Braila, all Korean-held, and Damen Galati, which is Dutch-held.