Drydocks World CEO sees solid reasons for Adriatic journey
DP WORLD’S ENTERPRISE GETS CRACKING ON YACHT WORKS AT NEW SHIPYARD
There is one aspect of Dubai’s DP World that everyone will agree upon — that it has not let anything get in the way when it comes to exploring opportunities far beyond its home base. DP World has taken on new port and free zone projects across continents, or rebuilt existing ones as the case may be.
This is a Dubai company that has stretched the boundaries of what its comfort zone should be.
The same now applies to a DP World group enterprise Drydocks World Dubai, which recently took its skillsets of high-calibre ship repair and maintenance services into Europe. As part of an alliance with Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), Drydocks World Dubai has planted its flag in the Adriatic, to take on work related to some of the biggest yachts that have taken to the high seas.
In an interview, Capt. Rado Antolovic, Chairman of the newly created Adriatic42 and CEO of Drydocks World Dubai, goes through the rationale of why it makes a whole lot of business sense to make this journey.
Is repair and maintenance of luxury yachts something of an unchartered territory for Drydocks World?
It is actually an area that Drydocks World has extensive experience in. We have experience in the repair and refit of cruise ships, as well as superand luxury yachts at our Dubai base. To date, we have repaired and maintained 800 yachts including three of the world’s largest yachts — one of which is 180 metres long.
We have been able to take our expertise from refitting cruise ships into the work we do for private yacht owners. For example, Drydocks World was responsible for the repair, maintenance, grit blasting, surface treatment and painting of the Queen Elizabeth II cruise ship during its conversion into a floating hotel.
It was last year DDW acquired the Montenegro yard. Is this a full ownership deal. Was the yard already one of the biggest in Europe?
The former Bijela Shipyard was established in 1927 and was the largest conventional repair and maintenance place in the southern Adriatic. It’s special location, in Boka Bay, made it one of the safest natural harbours in the world. And its heritage has produced numerous maritime experts who overhauled a large number of ships.
Unfortunately, it was not fully operational during the last 15 years, which led to its complete closure.
This part of the Mediterranean needed the ship and yacht overhaul sector to be revitalised and we are doing that in a modern and innovative way. This is exactly our task. On October 28, we officially launched Adriatic42 and it will reestablish the overhaul and yachting industry in Bijela in an innovative and sustainable way.
Behind Adriatic42 is a joint venture between PM Holdings llc, an Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) company, and Drydocks World Dubai, a DP World company. Our goal is to transform this place into a premium super-yacht refit and maintenance facility.
Since the acquisition, has there been an expansion or new berths added?
Our investment is focusing on refurbishing existing infrastructure including new superstructure. We have great ambitions as we create the prerequisites for each of our clients to receive a world-class service.
To make this possible and with an investment of over 40 million euros so far, we have provided the best infrastructure including a multi-million next generation floating dock, which is a 180 metre long, 37 metre wide structure with the capacity to handle 10,000 ton cargo vessels. This allows it to accommodate the world’s largest yachts with a travel lift of 720 tonnes.
Your targets on new contracts for the yard?
The former Bijela Shipyard was not operational for years, and it functioned according to completely different principles, so we can’t really make comparisons.
When we talk Adriatic42’s targets, we are already making great strides. ‘The Black Pearl’, the largest sailing yacht in the world, was recently at our floating dock under repair. This was a boost for all of us and proof that the joint venture standing behind Adriatic42 provides reliability and brings the trust of the most demanding clients.
When we talk about our first year of operation, our goal is to serve 27 super-yachts, and to increase the number to 109 within a period of five years.
We have great ambitions as we create the prerequisites for each of our clients to receive a world-class service.”
Capt. Rado Antolovic | Chairman of Adriatic42 and CEO of Drydocks World Dubai