Armón delivers his first ship made in Barreras and plans to manufacture ferries “soon”

2023-08-05 11:43:40

He Harmon Group I was this Friday of congratulations. It was not the first time they made a delivery in Vigo. He was not, far from it, the first fishing boat that they completed successfully. However, he Erin Bruce IIthe vieireiro commissioned by the Argentine Wanchese, does mark the beginning of an era. The ship is the first to be completed by the company in the facilities that once belonged to Hijos de J. Barreras and are now known as Astilleros Ría de Vigo. And, after this unit, the intention is for many more to come. The CEO of the Asturian group, Laudelino Alperi, was satisfied with the work carried out in the factory acquired a year ago, in which, as he explained, expects ferries to be built again “soon”.

With the usual discretion in Armón, the shipyard hosted the traditional delivery ceremony yesterday afternoon, which was attended by the president of Wanchese, Pedro Böhnsdalen, and the vice president, Pedro Ibar Böhnsdalen (his son), as well as the CEO of the company that owns from the Argentine firm, Glenn Cooke. The chief executive officer of Cooke Seafood, a firm that has maintained exclusive negotiations for the purchase of a majority of Nueva Pescanovacame with his family. In fact, his wife Pamela was precisely in charge of acting as godmother of the Erin Bruce II.

Despite the fact that no great speeches were made, Alperi attended this medium to briefly assess Armón’s current situation in Vigo. Especially, celebrated the good rhythm of Astilleros Ría de Vigowhose stands are full with the orders in force.

asked by if ferries will be manufactured again, Alperi confirmed that the commercial department is working on getting orders “soon”. Of course, he foresees that they will not be “as large” as those manufactured by Barreras in their day, with lengths that easily exceeded 150 meters, which would take up a good part of the productive space.

In fact, the largest ferry ever built in Vigo (the Abel Matutes190 meters) was for Baleària, one of Armón’s main clients, a group that has already commissioned the electric ferry cap of barbariaheld in Vigo.

“There are still four or five months of work left”

Laudelino Alperi – CEO of Armon

Regarding the actions carried out in the shipyard, Alperi indicated that the works continue. “There are still four or five months of work left”, commented the CEO of the Asturian group. These are works that affect both the facilities acquired last year and those they already had in the city (in their day Construcciones Navales Santodomingo), as well as the workshops located on the other side of the highway. Over there a parking area is planned for the workers.

However, the main actions that are being carried out now take place in the two factories. In the curve of San Gregorio, which they have occupied for more than 20 years, the works consist of reinforce the track that is covered, so that heavier ships can be manufactured.

In regards to the exBarreras shipyard, Armón will build two new ships. One will be located next to stand number two and will be a mobile roof, the construction of which is already quite advanced. The other will be installed in one of the stranding lanes located in the area closest to Armón Vigo, where new units are being built in the future. The objective is to improve working conditions for operators.

And in relation to the workers, both Alperi and the director of Armón Vigo, Santiago Martín, mentioned that difficulties in finding qualified professionals They are still very current. Currently, the group employs 400 operators in Vigo, but sThe forecasts of reaching 700 or 800 by the end of the year are maintained.

Hiring

Regarding current orders, Armón continues at full performance manufacturing, above all, oceanographic vessels. The next to launch, at the end of the month, will be New Zealand, but they also build units for Iceland, the Netherlands, the Azores and for the Spanish IEO. In addition, they have hired the freezer trawler for Copemar and the 85-meter patrol boat for the Civil Guard.

In fact, Armón is one of the protagonists in the latest balance of the naval industry published by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism. The Galician navy signed 4 of the 5 new contracts in the sector, and of these, two correspond to Armón Vigo (Civil Guard and Dutch ship), while the other two are from Freire Shipyard (the oceanographic for the French Ifremer and the Briggs Marine).

However, the Galician naval sector accumulates 30% of the country’s order book with 16 vessels, behind Asturias (25) and above the Basque Country (11), although with the lowest amount of GT (gross tonnage) contracted .