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Strong prospects for the future Viktor Lenac
STRONG PROSPECTS FOR THE FUTURE
With more than a century of experience in the shipping industry and a stable Mediterranean market position, Viktor Lenac is a reputable and modern Croatian shipyard that is able to take on the most demanding tasks within its domain. Vanja Švačko talks to company president Robert Škifić to find out more.
IN a difficult economic situation that has seriously shaken the Balkan region in the past two decades, Viktor Lenac has emerged in 2008 from bankruptcy and started with a new ownership structure. Within this new structure, the Croatian company Tankerska plovidba from Zadar has become a 37 per cent shareholder whilst the Uljanik shipyard holds 35 per cent of the shares. The rest of the shares belong to HBOR, the Croatian Bank for Reconstruction and Development and a few other small shareholders.
Viktor Lenac operates three floating drydocks at Martinšćica Bay near Rijeka, the largest port on the Adriatic Sea. The company is known as a pioneer in ship lengthening and is currently offering ship repair, conversions and offshore services. All three businesses contribute equally towards the company’s annual revenue. Lucrative investment scheme
The company’s current stable position is the result of a series of investments. Mr Škifić explains, “At the time of the bankruptcy the new owners had a lot of work to do in order to restore the shipyard. Launching Dock No. 11 in 2009 (with 261m of overall length and 53m of beam) for accommodating large ships of the Suezmax size enabled us to attract new clients. We purchased dock cranes with a maximum lifting capacity of 25T. In the past seven years we have invested more than €30 million in facilities and equipment. We are introducing advanced, healthy, environmentally friendly technologies such as ultra high pressure waterblasting as an alternative to grit blasting.”
Another important investment was the new Dock RI-38 purchased from Ukraine in 2012 (with a length of 155m, beam of 24m and lifting capacity of 8500T), which finally widened the range of vessels and type of services that Viktor Lenac could offer to its clients.
The company has worked on large-scale projects with some of the best-known companies in the marine industry, including Prysmian, Zafiro Marine/Carval, Micoperi, Saipem, Helix Energy Solutions, MSC, Rosetti Marino, Ilva Servizi Marittimi, Minerva Marine, and so on.
Full order book
Although repairs have always been the mainstay of Viktor Lenac’s business, in the past decade the company has been carrying out an increasing amount of offshore and conversion work. Mr Škifić says, “Our newest gas production platform, intended for gas field exploitation in the North Adriatic, has just been delivered to the joint Croatian-Italian
company INAgip. This year our company won a contract for the conversion of the Cable Enterprise barge for Prysmian Powerlink Services Ltd, UK. The conversion will be completed in February 2015. As for other activities, we currently have the maximum number of ships under repair (about 80), which means that our facilities are fully utilised.”
Next year (2015) will see an even large number of repair projects. In January, for example, the company is expecting the arrival of the 6th fleet flagship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) for extensive ship repair, modernisation and dry-docking. This highly complex and demanding project will take at least six months to complete.
Looking to the future, the company is also preparing for the newly-amended BWT (ballast water management) regulations, which are intended to gradually increase the global market for BWT systems, as well as exhaust gas cleaning systems or scrubbers according to new IMO regulations. Something Viktor Lenac is hoping will work to its advantage.
Identifying market opportunities
When asked about the company’s strategy for building its client base, Mr Škifić said: “Our clients are mostly sailing the Mediterranean and if they happen to be in the Adriatic our chances of being chosen by them are very high. We are happy to see more Greek ship owners amongst our client base. Our long-term customers tend to be German shipping companies who believe in the quality of our services and strict deadlines, as well as Italians who find the Lenac yard to be a convenient choice owing to its promixity to Italian coastal waters.”
As it is primarily a repair company, Viktor Lenac does not have a great deal of competition when it comes to commercial ships in the Adriatic. As far as the Mediterranean is concerned, the company is in competition with western European shipyards. “What we offer in the repair domain is very attractive for the shippers who are trying to make the most of every penny when investing in overhauls,” says Mr Škifić.
When it comes to conversion projects, the company has little competition. Indeed, the crisis in the Mediterranean offshore platform construction market has served to improve its business prospects further. “We have an adequate offshore area for that kind of production,” continues Mr Škifić, “and our proximity definitely plays an important role. At the moment we are relying on the positive implications of a strengthening US dollar, which puts Viktor Lenac in a favourable position amongst its competitors – especially when it comes to the dominant Turkish shipyards that are keeping their prices in dollars.”
With 95 per cent of its annual income coming from serving foreign clients and facilitating customs regulations within the EU, Viktor Lenac is fast becoming one of the strongest shipyards in the Mediterranean region. n
Visit: lenac.hr
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