Yacht service industry registers all-round growth

The yacht service industry has seen an all-round growth this year, pushing the Melita Marine Group to make use of sub-contracted workers and other shipyards.

Melita Shipyard in Grand Harbour registered a continuous growth this year, according to Melita Marine Group managing director Pierre Balzan.

He also said that the company saw an increase in clients and turnover of 21.35%, and that the facility had concluded project contracts worth millions of euros already in hand up to March 2017.

“The investment in the industry is both by the authorities and the private sector – Melita Marine Group invested millions in its floating dock facilities to be able to service even superyachts of up to 100 metres,” Balzan said. “This is now returning an exponential growth in demand for yachting services and consequently well-paid employment, turnover and investment in future manpower through apprentice training.”

According to a statement by the company, Melita Marine currently employs over 100 people, including apprentices and a specialised yacht painting team as well as other specialist-approved sub-contractors, amounting to over 140 people. “The group is recruiting additional personnel to meet the surplus in demand and provides training of personnel in specialist fields both in Malta and Europe, as well as additional apprentice training in all departments,” it added.

Balzan said that this year stood out amongst previous years in terms of growth.

“We have been seeing strong sales and profit figures throughout the years, but the first six months of this year have been busier due to our strong network approach and marketing. As a result, we have had to use other yards in Malta to help execute repairs and refits,” he said, adding that the largest yacht in dock was 95 metres and the largest services yacht in water was 135 metres.