Drones, patrol boats and floating platforms boost activity in Vigo's shipbuilding industry
Aister, Seadrone, Rodman Polyships, and San Enrique bursting into these booming markets.
Naval drones, state-of-the-art patrol boats, floating solar platforms, mussel farming vessels, and ship lengthening. This is also part of the shipbuilding sector, and it's being done in Vigo for national and international clients.
Aister, Seadrone, Polyships, and San Enrique are some of the shipyards that, although not included in the Ministry of Industry's shipbuilding statistics, are part of this increasingly diversified and internationalized industry.
Vigo-based Seadrone, part of Zelenza Group, has just secured a major technological project for the Spanish Navy. It's a surface-based marine drone, the SEAD 23, which the Spanish Ministry of Defence received last December and expects to be fully operational this September. It is 7 meters long and its engine reaches a maximum speed of 30 knots. It incorporates a multibeam sonar, a surface radar, an AIS transceiver, and an EO/IR camera. It can use three different types of communication: satellite, radio frequency, and 5G. Seadrone tested the drone over the last two years, and it participated in an experimental campaign aboard the frigate "Santa María."
Aister, with facilities in Moaña, has made a name for itself in recent years with contracts awarded by the Spanish Civil Guard's Maritime Service, to which it supplied several state-of-the-art patrol boats. The HS60 Combat is the company's latest offering. It is a militarized version of its interceptor that exceeds 60 knots and is used in the fight against drug trafficking and irregular immigration. Aister specializes in aluminium vessels that the Civil Guard uses to combat drug-running speedboats. The ‘Río Iro’, built by Aister, is considered the fastest in the world in its category, ‘water jets’ (a nautical propulsion system using a water jet).
Polyships, part of the Vigo-based Rodman group, also manufactures patrol boats at its facilities in Meira (Moaña). It has just been awarded a contract for two boats for the Guardia Civil (Spanish Civil Guard), to be delivered in 2027. This contract is worth more than €5.5 million and will provide services for at least 20 years in the fight against drug trafficking, illegal immigration, and the protection of the marine environment. The shipyard recently delivered a coastal patrol boat to the Spanish Tax Agency.
From Lengthening Ships to Manufacturing Offshore Solar Platforms
In recent years, the naval activity of San Enrique (formerly Factorías Vulcano shipyard) has shifted towards projects such as the construction of a floating solar platform to be installed in the Port of Valencia, a ro-ro ramp for Santander, and steel structures for use in offshore electrical substations. Grupo Marina Meridional, to which San Enrique belongs, secured a contract to build six electric vessels for a British shipping company, some of which will be built in Vigo.
Aister recently started a project to build two vessels for Central America, which will be used for pilot transport operations in port and coastal environments. Another of its market niches is sustainable aquaculture, with the construction of a mussel farming vessel for a Belgian company specializing in open-sea harvesting and cultivation.
Another market niche in ship repair is vessel lengthening, in which Nodosa, based in Marín, is establishing itself as a leader.
Source: Atlántico Diario