MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Italian giant shipbuilder will construct a major shipyard in Yucatán, Mexico

Progreso, the main port of Yucatan will have a new area entirely dedicated to industrial activities, and Fincantieri will be granted a 40-year concession

Fincantieri, the Italian shipbuilding giant, has announced it has signed a letter of intent with the Ministry of Economic Development and Labour of the Yucatán State (Mexico) to participate in the design and construction of a shipyard located in the port of Progreso.

Progreso, the main port of the state of Yucatan will have a new area entirely dedicated to industrial activities, and Fincantieri will be granted a 40-year concession for the exclusive management of the new yard. The shipyard will provide repair, conversions and maintenance cruise ships, large cargo vessels and oil and gas vessels

The agreement was signed remotely by the Minister of Economic Development and Labour of Yucatán, Ernesto Herrero Novelo, and by the Director of the Fincantieri Services Division, Giorgio Rizzo, respectively in the presence of the Governor of Yucatán, Mauricio Vila Dosal and the General Manager of Fincantieri, Fabio Gallia.

Fincantieri said that the project will consist in two masonry dry-docks, the largest in the Americas, able to harbor ships up to 400m in length. The yard will also have a lifting platform for units up to 150m in length, about 1,000m docks, cranes, workshops, special equipment, offices and warehouses.

Initially, the creation of the yard will be carried out by the government of the state of Yucatán, and it will start by the first half of 2021, and end, after various steps, by 2027. The government will directly manage initial works through a special purpose company, that will handle the dredging, and the construction of the infrastructures and main plants.

Fincantieri is to provide advice from the very beginning, to carry out the later stage, also involving other partners, building the advanced facilities, notably workshops and lifting equipment, and installing the equipment and finally starting activities. These will also include the necessary training of the staff, preemptively carried out both locally and in Italy at higher education institutes and at Fincantieri Academy.