In the on off world of commercial contracts Porto Montenegro has unveiled a new Refit and Repair joint venture with Drydocks World of Dubai.
In November 2018 Damen shipyards contracted with the Government of Montenegro to transform the former Bijela Shipyard located at the Kotor Bay in Montenegro into superyacht repair and refit facility. Nothing much happened and superyachts using the marina facilities of Porto Montenegro were forced to seek alternative shipyards for refit and repair
Now that Damen have pulled out of the development, Adriatic Marinas, the name behind the luxury marina village Porto Montenegro, are to work in partnership with Drydocks World Dubai the maritime industries service provider with both vowing to redevelop the former naval repair yard and turn it into the ultimate superyacht refit and repair facility.
To be renamed Adriatic 42, after the latitude it sits astride, the shipyard near Kotor is just one and a half miles from Porto Montenegro and like the marina lies inside the one of world’s safest natural harbours.
With centuries of shipbuilding and maritime tradition behind it, Bijela is the biggest shipyard in the Southern Adriatic. It was first established in 1927 and was located next to Porto Montenegro, which also started life as a base for the Yugoslavian Navy. In the mid-1970s Bijela boasted the biggest floating dock, with a lifting capacity of 33,000 tonnes and employed over 900 workers.
The yard which will be fully operational by the end of 2022 will now be completely redesigned into a superyacht refit and maintenance facility offering superyacht quality and service. The new development will be realised using state-of-the-art equipment with capacity to service the world’s largest private yachts.
Under the terms of the partnership, Adriatic Marinas have already committed €20M to date for the construction of the new infrastructure, including the floating dock, travel hoist and technical studies, alongside a full upgrade of the shipyard’s existing facilities – an additional €20-30M is intended over next three years for further enhancements.
During the first operational year of the shipyard, Adriatic 42 will aim to repair 14 superyachts, which will increase to 109 repairs in the fifth year. Starting with 35 workers in the first operational year, the facility will grow to 300 to 400 workers in the fifth year of operations, with the majority of the work force recruited from the local area in Tivat.
The creation of Adriatic 42 is in response to an increase in demand for berthing in the Adriatic and confirms Porto Montenegro’s position as one of the top marinas in the world, catering to any size vessel in the market.
As part of the re development the facility has announced the acquisition of a 180-metre x 37-metre long floating dock, with a 10,000 tonne lift capability, to equip the Bijela Shipyard, which will position the new shipyard amongst the top yacht refit facilities in the world. The teams in Bijela and Dubai are working towards the acquisition of building permits to ensure it is ready for the dock to arrive in Montenegro by the end of April 2022.
On completion of the assessment stage, phase one of the development will entail the testing of all existing infrastructure, integrity analysis, work on anchor points for the floating dock, construction of a Travel Hoist jetty, rehabilitation of the South Jetty and refurbishment of existing superstructure.