By
Rebecca Gibson |
This article was first published in the Autumn/Winter 2016 issue of International Cruise & Ferry Review. All information was correct at the time of printing, but may since have changed.
Navantia Shiprepairs broke a record this April, starting renovation and repair projects onboard four cruise vessels in just five days at its yard in Cadiz. This marked the first time the Spanish yard has worked on so many cruise vessels at once.
Between 24 and 29 April, not only did Navantia start to install 58 French balconies on Absolute Nevada’s Deutschland, but it also began upgrading interiors on repeat visitor The World, the largest privately owned residential yacht. The company started a six-week project to remodel and rebrand Royal Caribbean International’s Splendour of the Seas, before she was relaunched as Thomson Cruises’ TUI Discovery on 9 June in Palma, Majorca. In addition, TUI Cruises’ Mein Schiff 3 was fitted with a prefabricated block of steel incorporating a new stern transverse propeller to improve her manoeuvrability.
According to Navantia’s commercial manager Ramón de Lara, the yard was able to complete the extensive projects on time and within budget through meticulous planning and continuous interaction with each customer.
“Good forward planning was a key factor, helping us to minimise the vessels’ downtime and control costs,” he explains. “For example, we held numerous preparatory and execution planning meetings with TUI Cruises and prefabricated parts before working on Mein Schiff 3, which helped us to complete the project a day ahead of what was already a very tight deadline.”
By the end of this year, Navantia will have completed a total of 13 orders, including a large refit for a regular client in September, followed by three consecutive drydocks. The yard also hopes to secure another two orders.
Lara notes that these orders are helping Navantia to rapidly progress towards its goal of being the leading cruise ship repair yard in Europe and the second worldwide. “This record-breaking spike in cruise ship repair projects is the result of strategic planning, interdepartmental coordination and, most importantly, many years of hard work,” he explains, adding that the yard’s Mediterranean location also helps. “The best way to promote Navantia in the repair and refit market is to provide safe and reliable services that meet and exceed our customers’ expectations. We become more efficient with each project.”
To ensure this success continues, Navantia will invest in improving both its facilities and the skills of its staff and subcontractors.
“Navantia is well equipped to provide high quality ship repair and maintenance services for large cruise vessels, but we’ll continue to make necessary investments to improve our facilities and to increase the skills and knowledge of our staff,” Lara remarks. “This growth strategy, combined with our philosophy of adapting our yard to the individual needs of each client, will ensure that we can maintain, and most likely exceed, our current number of annual orders. We measure our success by our customers’ satisfaction levels, and we’re very proud that many return to us.”