Galician shipbuilding industry warns about Asian irruption on its market and claims support

“China is a threat for us”, assets Aclunaga’s President regretting the lack of specific sector aid that relays on technology its strategic plan up to 2030

Galician industry is used to observe from distance, and to feel at first hand, as Pekin Government can alter any heart rate with trails of public subsidies, even within shipbuilding. They have also seen lightening the greater shipyard in the world, South Korean, brought about by merging – with the Estate funds- between Hyunday Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding. With a huge installed capacity, the Asiatic shipbuilding devoured volumes, building vessels with great precision and Fordian cadence; great dimension and CGT boats but less technical complexity. Up to now, that has got full into a segment, the one of high specialized orders, that Galicia was, and it is power. “They are a threat for our shipbuildingconstruction”, warned yesterday the Galician Shipbuilding Cluster (Aclunaga) President, during the introduction of the strategic plan Vision 2030 from small and medium size shipyards. A document that gets to the point the unique mechanism to confront Asiatic tsunami is technology. The same recipe was used by automotive industry, for example, against Portuguese and Morocco offer. “It is indispensable to invest on innovation, with smart shipyards”, explained Patricia Agerey, General Director of the Local Government Innovation Agency (Gain)

Although shipbuilding sector assures does not have the same instruments to co-finance the effort that means to adapt shipyards to automation, scanning, new materials use or training and crew retraining. “Technological challenge must be together with yes or yes to professional grades with enough quality, it is essential. Every training program we could use is indispensable, and we will have to adequate to market reality”, summed up Freire. Galician initial position is not easy compared with existing support in Holland – boosting demand against the old tax lease- Check Republic or Germany. “In other EU countries big amounts of Funding Lost”, added up Eva María Novoa, General Director by Soermar, the strategic plan author and fostered by the main shipyards. “Support that Spain offers should be redefined”, she warned.

Within the shipyards, yesterday attended to the introduction Barreras, Freire, Cardama, Armón, Metalships and Vulcano representatives, apart from auxiliary industry companies. They ask administrations to adapt legislation to sector reality. “We have less than 250 workers, but we stay away from the SME support program” said Freire. Aclunaga have also demanded a specific training that, nowadays, is very limited.