Damen was participating in negotiations and close to an agreement, but just when negotiations were taking a positive turn, a new Government Minister was installed - with differing views than his predecessor. The new leadership opted for a ‘do-it-yourself’ approach, believing that the dry-dock company could and should work its way out of the trenches without the assistance of any foreign investments. Unfortunately, this didn’t work out as planned. The company sank into further debt, and the much-needed investments were hard to come by. Despite its precarious situation, Caldera accepted the challenge and joined the CDC staff in 2012 as the Facility Manager, and became the Interim Managing Director of CDM Holding, NV. in January 2014. After a challenging start, which included the restructuring and upgrading of many internal processes, he then looked towards a complete company-wide turnaround.
Caldera Targets Newcomers
As Damen Gears Up for Growth After years of futile efforts to work out a deal for financing through local banks, the Curaçao Drydock Company, (CDC), has recently signed an agreement with Damen Shipyard Group to take over all its operational activities. TEXT FARAH DIBAH AYOUBI
Getmar Caldera, Managing Director of CDC is now smiling as he takes calls from numerous seriously interested parties eager to establish their services on the premises. “Finally we have the opportunity to turn the CDC into the leading company we always knew it had the potential to be,” notes Caldera. The change in Caldera’s outlook is mostly attributable to the signing of the agreement on September 9th with Damen Shipyard Group - which re-opens doors everywhere. Soon Damen flags will be waving in our historic dry-dock with a newly established company called, Damen Shiprepair Curaçao, that will take over the operational activities of the CDC for the next 20 years with the possibility to extend it a further 5 years.
A Revitalized Champion The concession agreement between Damen and CDC introduces a floating dock that is projected to bring an additional 30% capacity,
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and also injects US$40 million in infrastructure and training facilities for personnel. Damen Shiprepair Curaçao will become part of the Damen Shiprepair & Conversion Group which currently operates 40 dry docks in 15 shipyards around the world. Like a proud father, Caldera is extremely satisfied to see that the company, which had struggled for a long time despite its overwhelming potential to become a champion in the industry, will now finally do its people, the island and our unique harbor justice. The facilities of CDC currently include 2 graven docks and approximately 2000m of repair quays outfitted with 13 cranes. Damen will install a third dock, thereby considerably increasing its capacity. The CDC has been looking for avenues to invest and expand for a long while now. This strategic partnership brings an end to the struggles, attracts fresh capital, new business spinoffs and is set to restore the docks to their ‘champion’ status. In 2009 the CDC was already in dire straits.
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His efforts were soon met with reward, such that by his first year in the company as Facility Manager, the company was breaking even. At this juncture, Caldera together with the turn-around team lead by Mr. Henry Neoman, approached the local banks for financing in order to invest in the necessary measures for growth, however they were turned down by all the banks. The significant debt of the company and previously volatile scenarios were making it hard for CDC to get a loan. Some were only willing to finance his plans if the government would guarantee the loan sum, and the government was not willing to do so. Believing in the potential of the company, Caldera went back to the drawing board, despite rumblings within the local community of closing the dry-dock.
Impact Study At that point a Multi-Disciplinary Project Team, (MDPT), was formed to find ways to overcome the struggles of the company. A key component of the efforts made by this team, was an Economic Impact Study conducted by Maxwell Silver to assess the economic contribution of the CDC on the local economy of Curaçao. The study analyzed the potential of Curaçao’s dry-dock and provided valuable insight into these 3 main scenario’s: • What would be the impact of removing the dry-dock from Curaçao’s economic structure? • How would things look if everything stayed the same? • How would things look with a major investor on board?
By clearly defining what was virtually obvious, this study ended the insistent rumblings in the community saying that closing the company
