Szczecin Shipyard "Wulkan" recapitalized. Dock for "Gryfia" in two years

The Szczecin Shipyard "Wulkan" ended 2024 with a profit of PLN 17 million. This was announced on Wednesday (14 May) at a conference in Szczecin by Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Arkadiusz Marchewka. Together with Aleksandra Skibniewska - president of the Company Development Fund - he signed an investment agreement for the shipyard. Over PLN 50 million will go to its modernization and development, and approx. PLN 170 million - to the construction of a floating dock (for the Morska Stocznia Remontowa "Gryfia"). The dock is to be ready in two years. The meeting was also an opportunity to sum up the year of activity of the new management board of the shipyard company.

– When we took over responsibility for the operation of the Szczecin Shipyard, we conducted a very thorough audit, which showed that the net loss for 2023 amounted to nearly PLN 136 million – said Deputy Minister Marchewka, noting that the shipyard was threatened with bankruptcy. – I said then that the time for party nominees was over, the time for professionals in the maritime economy had come, and today we see the effects of this. The Szczecin Shipyard “Wulkan” ended 2024 with a profit of PLN 17 million. All bad contracts that were dragging the shipyard down were reformulated.

He added that the contract for the construction of the dock, which could have led to the bankruptcy of both the Szczecin Shipyard "Wulkan" and "Gryfia", was concluded in a completely new formula: profitable, based on economic calculation.

- What was wrong here is an element of the activities and assessment of the services in connection with the notifications that were forwarded to the prosecutor's office after we learned about many irregularities - the deputy minister continued. - We have a good financial result, we have ambitious plans and we want the Szczecin Shipyard "Wulkan" to be a modern shipyard, responding to the challenges of the future in the maritime economy. That is why our government has decided to recapitalize the shipyards in Szczecin with the amount of PLN 240 million. These are financial resources that will be allocated to the construction of a dock for the MSR "Gryfia", which will be able to accept the largest ships entering the Szczecin port. We will also increase the production potential of the Szczecin Shipyard "Wulkan". With this money, we will build new production halls and purchase the necessary machines and tools for bending sheet metal, so that the Szczecin Shipyard "Wulkan" and companies operating in this area can carry out their ambitious activities in order to develop. One of the examples that proves that the shipyard is getting back on its feet and rebuilding its competences is the implementation of the contract for the construction of a ship for placing navigation markings for the Maritime Office in Szczecin. We have decided that the Maritime Office will receive PLN 30 million from the state budget to implement this undertaking.

He recalled that the tender procedure in this case was won by the Szczecin Shipyard "Wulkan".

– Today we are taking another step in the development of the West Pomeranian shipyard sector and signing an investment agreement with the Ministry of Infrastructure – said Aleksandra Skibniewska, president of the Company Development Fund. – It will support development processes, modernization and expansion of the infrastructure of the Szczecin Shipyard “Wulkan” and enable the launch of a new implementation agreement for the construction of a floating dock. This will enable the shipyard to achieve the long-awaited positive operating result on its operational activity.

The President of the Szczecin Shipyard "Wulkan" summed up the 12 months of activities of the company's management board.

– It was a very difficult year – he emphasized. – It was a year of very intensive work, many changes. We achieved stabilization of the company. I am not saying that it is a success yet, because we have established a recovery plan for 18 months. We are implementing it a bit faster than we expected, but we have not yet completed all the changes that we want to introduce. We are planning it for the end of this year. At this point, the company is already stable, it is implementing profitable contracts, it is cooperating with the private shipbuilding sector, with subcontractors, and is acquiring new contracts.

As he pointed out, the buoy maker is the first unit, but not necessarily the last.

– We see opportunities in the production of specialist units for the offshore industry and for other non-mass applications – said R. Kowalczyk.

He explained that the company’s reorganization was to consist in separating three directions of operational activity, and this was a success.

– We have offshore production – we produce elements of offshore wind farms and other elements for this industry, we produce ship structures – ship blocks that we send around the world, and we also cooperate with the private sector on shipyard assets – listed the president.

He added that the company is growing in competence, and more and more people are working at the shipyard: the companies operating here (nearly 70) employ over two thousand people.©℗

More on this topic in “Kurier Szczeciński” and eKurier from 15/05/2025.

Elizabeth KUBOWSKA