Astivik Shipyard

Working hard in a challenging market

It was a tough year for many and the Caribbean ship repair sector in 2020 certainly had its ups and down. One shipyard working hard in a challenging market is Cartagena-based Astivik Shipyard.

Caribbean Maritime spoke to the yard’s business development manager Cristhian Mar González about current market conditions and how Astivik has had to adapt its working practices in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

First off, Astivik acknowledges that it has been tough. Says Mar González: “Given market demand, Astivik has concentrated its efforts on ship maintenance, ship repair and ship conversion projects. However, we have extensive experience in newbuilds, which includes barges, tugboats, push boats, self-propelled vessels and floating drydocks. These newbuilds have been delivered to companies such as Drummond, Glencore, Seacore, Impala/Trafigura among others. All were built to international standards set down by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Lloyd's Register or Bureau Veritas (BV).”

Workload

The yard’s current workload comprises projects for local clients. “We are currently developing a newbuild project for the Colombian gold mining industry, and although the local demand for these types of projects is limited, and companies abroad don’t often see Colombia as a possible source for newbuilds, we want to be internationally recognized – especially with our 48 years of expertise in the field, our certified personnel and our high-quality standards. These, alongside strategic alliances with the world’s leading manufacturers of propulsion and manoeuvring systems, supervision and certification of most IACS member class societies established in Colombia and competitive prices, make us one of the best options for newbuilds in the Caribbean.

Adapt

In addition to working in a tight market, Astivik – along with many others – has had to adapt working practices and been impacted by national and international travel restrictions and onerous new health protocols. “It has been a very challenging year, during which we have attended the national market mostly, however, a large part of our sales come mainly from vessels from Caribbean countries such as Panama. Due to Covid-19, maritime borders were closed for about a month and international flights were only re-opened comparatively recently. During this period, we focused our efforts on national projects and the maintenance of our infrastructure in order to generate job opportunities in the region.

Once the maritime border was re-opened, and thanks to the trust we have built, on 16 May we received our first US-flag ship, complying with strict biosafety protocols, and ever since, we have continued working in what we called the “new normal”, constantly updating our biosafety protocols, and getting excellent results through the service we have provided.

“The ship repair and ship maintenance market is increasingly competitive, customers not only expect good prices, they also demand optimal delivery times. We are focused to continue offering our clients a service that exceeds their expectations by combining quality, safety, delivery times and competitive prices, consolidating not only their trust in our work, but also establishing our position as one of the main shipyards in the Caribbean.”

And prospects for this year? “We feel very optimistic that we will be able to reach our 2021 commercial objectives and will continue to establish ourselves as one of the main shipyards in the Caribbean,” Mar González confirms.

Lifting Capacity

‘Astivik offers Colombia’s highest dock lifting capacity at 4,000 tons. This represents a vessel of approximately 120 m LOA and 17 m beam. Including subcontractors and depending on the production level the yard employs between 300 and 500 people daily. In 2020, Astivik handled more than 80 repair and maintenance projects from clients from around the world. One particular highlight was the 94-meter length, BV-classed, Panamanian tanker Kelly Trader, which had its intermediate drydock at the yard and which included hull, deck and superstructure painting, 10 tons of steel renewal as well as other work. Another notable contract was the 1975-built Don Oscar P, a US-flag tugboat belonging to the South Puerto Rico Towing Co, classified under ABS and which during its special drydock, the yard worked on the propulsion system, performed hull painting, undertook 13 tons of steel renewal, changed pipes etc.

Last year Astivik began to execute its master plan which includes the modernization of the infrastructure, acquisition of new equipment, implementation of high technology, and in 2021 the yard will begin the construction of a new floating drydock that will have a lifting capacity of 8,000 tons. Once operational, Astivik will seek to position the yard in the tanker, cargo, and fishing vessel segments.

Astivik Shipyard

FOUNDED IN 1972, Astivik Shipyard has clients from more than 30 countries around the world, and bases its service on international standards and procedures that are certified by IACS.

Astivik Shipyard has four floating docks and two high-performance docks for small vessels with different capacities, with the aim of offering support to varying types of projects.