Polish shipyard first in Europe and among the best 10 in the world

Remontowa Shiprepair Yard S.A. was ranked first among the shipyards in Europe due to the number of special surveys carried out, and was also among the 10 best ship repair yards in the world in the Clarksons Research ranking.

British maritime intelligence company analysed fleet modernization projects carried out in 600 biggest ship repair yards in the world in 2019. The results were published in the report: “A ship repair market review”, a summary of which was included in the June issue of the well-known industry magazine DRYDOCK, which specialises in research on the global ship repair and maintenance sector.

As highlighted, following last year’s increase in ship repair and fleet modernisation services in various regions of the world, including projects involving the installation of various systems to reduce fuel consumption or emissions from ships, the COVID-19 pandemic and its unprecedented impact on the global economy has become a dominant theme in 2020.

“With economists now expecting global economic GDP to decline by more than 3 percent across 2020, at Clarksons Research we now estimate this will produce a decline of over 5 percent in global seaborne trade, the sharpest decline for over 35 years. Even for an industry with a long track record of dealing with disruption, the scale and nature of the impact is unprecedented” – stresses Stephen Gordon, Managing Director of Clarksons Research.

The report shows that in 2019, Poland’s share of the entire global fleet modernization sector, covering a wide range of projects such as: dock inspections, maintenance, class renewals, retrofitting ships with scrubbers and ballast water management systems, ferry and passenger ship refurbishments and others, was 3 percent. This is less than in the United Arab Emirates (4 percent) and Singapore (6 percent), but more than in Japan (2 percent) and South Korea (2 percent). According to this report, a total of 49 percent of the ship repair market share in 2019 belonged to China.

The British analytical company has compiled a ranking of shipyards that performed the most ship special surveys in 2019. Of the 20 largest shipyards in the world in this respect, 16 operate in China.

Among the shipyards outside China, there are only four others in the ‘Top 25’: Drydocks World Dubai, Besiktas, Remontowa and Dubai Shipbuilding” – explains Stephen Gordon of Clarkson.

Let’s add that two of them (Drydocks World Dubai and Dubai Shipbuilding) are located in the United Arab Emirates and one (Besiktas) is located in Yalova, in the Asian part of Turkey. Gdańska Stocznia Remontowa S.A. therefore is the only shipyard in Europe in the top twenty that has done most special surveys. What is more, by taking ninth place in the “Top 20” ranking, the Polish company defeated 10 Chinese shipyards.

Clarksons Research on the basis of the World Fleet Register also presented a ranking of the 10 best ship repair yards operating in different regions of the world (Top Repair Yards by Region) due to the total number of projects they have carried out, including major ship repairs and modernization. In this ranking Gdańska Stocznia Remontowa S.A. is also the only European shipyard to be ranked halfway.

The authors of the report point out that this year is very difficult not only for shipbuilding yards but also for the global ship repair sector. The difficulties directly related to COVID-19, consisting in disruptions in logistics, equipment or spare parts supplies, as well as in travelling to the shipyards of service technicians and inspectors of classification societies, are compounded by the indirect – economic effects of the pandemic, including the reduction of the price spread between high-sulphur fuel (HFO) and low-sulphur fuel (LSFO), from over USD 300 to USD 40 per tonne, which slowed down or even stopped many projects to install exhaust gas cleaning systems (scrubbers) on ships.

In this difficult market, shipyards are better off with a recognisable brand and good reputation, and are able to carry out ship repairs using e.g. remote inspection and project supervision. Among them is Gdańska Stocznia Remontowa S.A.

“Ship repair volumes are generally trending downwards, inƽuenced by a mix of both operational and economic factors. We estimate an up to 10 percent decline in ship repair activity ytd” – concludes Stephen Gordon of Clarksons Research.

British analysts also point out that, on the one hand, the number of ship calls in China, after a decline since the beginning of this year, has been growing again since April, and on the other hand, shipping activity in Europe and the USA is still 15 percent lower. In addition, 11 percent of the total capacity of the container fleet is still inactive.

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