Cruise & Ferry Review - Autumn/Winter 2020

1 6 5 firm Mivan, echoes these sentiments. “A key challenge will be boosting consumer confidence in the industry,” he says. “But coronavirus innovations such as sanitation and contamination prevention are at the forefront of significant developments for the refurbishment market. There are also inconsistent quarantine rules across national governments which could potentially limit the number of suppliers available to work on a project, but collaboration and a unified effort to use Covid-19 identification systems on all ships and yards could also help to solve this.” Some creativity may be required to address the challenges presented by these unprecedented times. For example, architect at marine outfitter Gerolamo Scorza, Alfredo De Flora says that “the refurbishment season must be rethought in terms of project delivery conditions, appointed manpower and maintaining high- quality standards to meet customers’ expectations.” Karen Argue, business development manager at marine refurbishment company The Deluxe Group, says that the industry will need to become more flexible to adapt to sudden changes, and Mantas Dubavičius, commercial director at shipbuilding firm Aros Marine, also adds that “businesses must diversify to include more business areas and look for more effective ways to operate”. Enabling efficiencies Many refurbishment companies agree that better planning is crucial to reduce Almaco offers comprehensive and preventive maintenance programmes to keep interior spaces looking fresh