Under the Mars Shipyards & OffHore group, six shipbuilding companies and offshore are concentrated: Natuta renovation shipyard, Morska Remontowy Gryfia, Shipyard Szczecińska, Energomontaż-North Gdynia, ST3 Offshore and design and construction office Mars Design & Solutions. Companies have different history and experience, but today they realize the common goal of achieving a leading position in the field of competitive and innovative products and services for the marine industry. The Group’s activity is based on four segments of the maritime economy: construction of new ships, repairs and conversions, production of steel structures for the offshore industry and special production. In each of these areas, the group is looking for their niches and competitive advantages that will allow overcome the difficult situation on the market.
Renovations – a full range of services for shipowners
Thanks to the technical potential, high quality of work, experience and knowledge of crew shipyards from the Mars group belong to the most competitive renovation shipyards in the Baltic Sea. This confirms the fact that about 500 shipowners operating on the Baltic Sea from over 350 Shipyards Mars maintained trade contacts in recent years.
Although in the field of renovation and conversion of ships, Nauta and IAS Gryfia have several dozen years of experience, today it is not an easy market for them. For a long time on the ship renovation market, a low level of orders maintains. Due to the distinct of the fleet and the reduction of freight rates, shipowners are looking for savings. However, in this case, Mars shipyards found a solution. Both Nauta and IAS Gryfy acquire orders resulting from the exacerbation of environmental standards. The result was, among others Recently completed projects including the assembly of ballast water treatment systems and scrubber to purify exhaust gas.
In new construction sites we are on the acquis
Although the main area of MARS shipyard activity is repairs, wanting to diversify sources of revenues, for several years of the company, the company increases the activity in the field of new constructions, although the situation in the industry is not easy. The difficulties arise from the fact that the European market for the construction of new ships has been strongly marginalized in the last 30 years, and the leading players on the global market are Japan, Korea and China, which have been constituting their position since the 1990s. It can be said that in the field of construction of new ships Polish shipyards are on the achievements. If we look at a statistical state on shipbuilding in Polish shipyards, you can see a decisive advantage of partially equipped hulls over completely equipped units – says Robert Kowalski, the shipbuilding director in MS. The company of investment funds. This happens because in the era of crisis the role of major contractors accepted shipyards from countries that made orders. To return to the first league, we must rebuild your portfolio that will allow you to compete for the most profitable orders – adds Robert Kowalski,
The chances for increasing the volume of production of ships completely equipped creates a ferry market for Polish shipyard. Experts estimate that due to the average age of operated ferries, up to 2020 in the world, about 500 units of this type will have to be withdrawn and replaced with newer. What’s more, the global ferry market is a large extent in Europe, especially on the Baltic Sea – recognized for the cradle of ferry navigation and in the North and Mediterranean. The lever to rebuilding the competence and industrial potential of the Polish shipbuilding industry may be the Batory program, which is part of the construction project by the maritime refurbishment shipyard Gryfy Ro-Pax for Polish Baltic Navigation.
Support for Navy
A valid area of the Group’s operations is production for a navy. In the context of the planned program “Combating threats at sea”, under which the navy plans to obtain new ships, we care not only to participate in the construction process as much as possible in the construction process, but also to provide Polish shipyards licenses for servicing and maintenance The efficiency of ships obtained throughout the period of their exploitation under the white and red flag – says Robert Kowalski.
The development of competences on the special production market aims to protect the highest level of national defense for many years while ensuring an optimal level of total cost to maintain the efficiency of the Polish fleet.
Offshore – Water and underwater structures of the highest quality
The production of structures for the offshore industry is an area in which companies from the Mars group have been delivered from various constructions for over a dozen years, gaining recognition of contractors from around the world. Companies such as Energomontaż-North Gdynia, MSR Gryfy or the youngest in Rumor St3 Offshore perform large-size elements for marine wind farms, drilling and mining platform modules, as well as requiring precise submarine processing elements of loading systems. Taking into account market forecasts, in the long-term perspective in the offshore segment, we have chances for our group in particular in the dynamic development of marine wind energy. Our group has all predispositions to be one of the key producers of supplier chain during the planned construction of marine wind farms in the Polish part of the Baltic Sea, especially since the scale of the benefits of launching the IMF can be important for the entire Polish economy – says Jacek Kopczyński, director of DS. Steel business in MS company of investment funds.
Ecology – a source of new possibilities
In addition to segments, which have been a field of operations from the Group companies for a long time, Mars is also looking for opportunities to develop also in new areas of maritime economy. One of them are pro-ecological projects.
For at least a dozen or so years, the issue of recycling of performed ships is the subject of international discussion on the forum of institutions dealing with the maritime economy. Despite attempts to limit the procedure for scrapping ships on the beaches in Bangladesh, India or Pakistan, the shipowners are still decide on this dangerous practice. For example, in 2016, 328 vessels floating under the flag of European Union countries were withdrawn, as much as 274 of them (ie 84%) went to shipyard shipyards on the beaches of India, Pakistan or Bangladesh. In response to these problems, the European Union has been announced by new regulations, according to which all ships that wasting goods to and from European ports after the withdrawal will be able to be disposed of only in approved ship recycling plants. In addition, the Union intends to increase financial resources in subsequent years to reduce the negative social and ecological effects of recycling.
The analyzes carried out so far show that the Polish maritime economy can use the safe and fully ecological recycling of floating units. These possibilities want to use the Mars Shipyards & Offshore group, which has signed a letter of intent with a lotus group on cooperation in the recycling of marine platforms. The implementation of the Joint Undertaking will serve the “Green Shipyard” program entering the implementation of strategic assumptions of the Ministry of Maritime Economy and inland navigation related to the revitalization of the shipbuilding industry.
