The world’s largest container shipping company, MSC, has submitted a bid for the insolvent Mangalia shipyard in Romania.
Work has been underway on the site again since May and the company is said to have paid for the repair of some ships in advance. In future, cruise and RoPax ships could be built there, among other things.
MSC informed the Romanian government of its interest in taking over the management of the Damen Mangalia shipyard, which has been insolvent since June last year. Since then, the shipyard has been majority-owned by the Romanian state, while Damen Shipyards retains a 49% stake and is the largest creditor.
The Dutch company started operations in Romania in 2018 through a joint venture with the government; previously, the Korean company Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) was the main owner of the shipyard.
With this offer, the shipping company MSC, led by Gianluigi Aponte, is competing with the Turkish company Desan, which is also in negotiations with the authorities. According to reports, this is about renting production capacity and manpower from the shipyard.
Revival of Mangalia: New MSC ships on the horizon?
As of May, two vessels have returned to the docks, and another is due to arrive. Around 800 of the nearly 1,000 employees have been able to resume work.
According to Romanian media reports, Damen Mangalia’s total debts currently amount to RON 1.87 billion (approx. €380 million). The shipyard’s assets – including equipment, stocks, inventory, receivables and investments – were last estimated at around RON 945 million (€190 million). The liquidation value and thus the minimum claim of the creditors is just under RON 433 million (€ 86 million).
For MSC, the shipyard site in Romania is potentially a worthwhile investment.
“The growth of the MSC fleet requires a large shipyard for newbuildings, which are currently focused on Asia (for container ships) and Europe (for cruise ships),” reads a letter from Prabhat Jha, CEO of MSC Shipmanagement, to the Romanian government. “We intend to consider the Mangalia shipyard for the future construction of cruise ships, RoPax and tugs.”
