There is light at the end of the tunnel for the naval equipment market

The crises of the international shipping is far from over. The most affected are the shipyards.  The decrease in the volume of new –built vessels forced them to move towards ship repair, off-shore constructions and even metallic works. Shipyards failing to adapt to the new conditions closed their gates.  

Today, Europe, Asia and the two Americas are packed with closed shipyards, awaiting better times. WaterMota SRL of Constanta managed to gain recognition on the domestic naval equipment and engines market in 2013, despite the hardships the Romanian maritime industry is going through.   

"This year we provided complete propulsion packages (starting from propeller to the main engine), diesel – generators, pumps for five new-built river vessels, built by Navrom Shipyard and ATG Giurgiu. Their value amounts to 700.000 Euro. Most of the equipment we supplied is produced by the South –Korean company "Doosan".  The products proved to be the most suited for these constructions and the price-quality ratio was the most advantageous" – stated for "Cuget Liber"  Bogdan Moise –General Manager of WaterMota company.  

The naval equipment market is highly competitive. There is a tough fight among large producers. Their weapons are not only technological progress, but also prices. During this crises, Asia managed to gain a competitive advantage, especially by means of subsidized prices. "South Korea balanced the technological discrepancy that separated it from Europe, with respect to naval equipment.  

Five years ago, much of the production was under license. Nowadays, they produce engines based on their own projects. The number of Research & Development centres dedicated to new technologies is increasing. Before this, USA, Europe and Japan represented  the growth poles on the naval equipment market. Now, it seems South Korea is the fourth one", - says Bogdan Moise. 

Gladly, Romanian producers of naval equipment have begun to surface.  "Usually, in our country the equipment is marinised (is adapted to the naval sector) – declared our interlocutor. Our company does this as well. We take an engine destined for another field and we transform it according to the requirements of navigation. There are Romanian companies producing marinised diesel-generators.  "Reșița" SA produces reduction gears for the external market.  A division of "Doosan Heavy Industries" took over IMG Bucharest, where propellers, equipment and subassemblies for cathedral engines are produced. " Shipping and maritime industry take advantage of the economic crises to make a turn towards energy efficient vessels.  

"We are facing an obvious trend in what hybrid propulsion is concerned. EU finances hybrid propulsion (gas and electric propulsion) as well as inland navigation infrastructure projects. At present, we are involved in a hybrid propulsion project. Unfortunately, we are facing a legislative obstacle. The European Union legislation on hybrid propulsion falls behind technological changes.  It must be updated. This is not the only drawback.  The ports have to be equipped with power stations for hybrid propulsion vessels. We are discussing on that with a Bulgarian company.  This company initiated a feasibility study on equipping Bulgarian and Romanian ports with LNG terminals.  In parallel, the company will launch a feasibility study on the construction of gas-propulsion vessels. There are also Romanian companies interested in making that change.  One of them already has a feasibility study in the making. " 

What should the shipping, naval industry and naval equipment market expect for 2014? Based on the increase in the volume of goods in international trade, and on the legislative changes concerning navigation, there is light at the end of the tunnel for ship owners and shipyards alike. "We are optimistic – says  Bogdan Moise. We expect to hit the level of 2013. The three contracts discussed until now, regarding three large river vessels, shall ensure more than half of 2013’s turnover. Also, we are in advanced discussions with the towing companies in Constanta Port. In 2013 we provided 21 de diesel-generators for three of them. We are planning to re-engineer propulsion of these tug-boats. We proved to be a trustworthy partner to them, which can provide the most suited solutions to existent vessels. We are able to ensure service, warranty, in short,  to provide the complete package that ship owners need. "