Palumbo Group acquired Viktor Lenac Shipyard in Croatia in late 2018, expanding the company’s drydocking reach in Europe.

“The idea is to create a unique network of shipyards within the Mediterranean region to provide clients with any technical assistance they may need without moving far from their trading routes,” said a spokesperson, in the 2019 Drydocking and Refurbishment Report by Cruise Industry News.

Viktor Lenac Shipyard boasts a strong operation with the U.S. Navy; in April it was the only facility outside the U.S. and Japan to simultaneously host three U.S. Navy ships for their scheduled maintenance periods.

The company’s Naples yard remains a key ferry and cruise facility.

The Group also has yards in  Ancona, Messina, Savona, Marseilles, Malta and Tenerife.

The network of yards has been busy installing ballast water treatment systems on a variety of ships recently, the spokesperson said, also noting an increase in the demand for scrubber installations.

For hull coatings, Palumbo has implemented a waster blasting system as opposed to grit blasting. Using water is said to eliminate harmful side effects of dry abrasive grit blasting such as airborne dust, chemical and thermal pollution and surface ingrained residual blasting materials, while significantly reducing noise.

“It provides a much more efficient and faster service and uses 61 percent less electricity to grit blasting,” the spokesperson said. “Two workers do the job previously performed by eight workers.”

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Go inside the world of cruise ship drydocking and refurbishment with the 2019 Cruise Industry News Drydocking and Refurbishment Report, presenting a 100-page overview of the $3 billion annual cruise ship drydock and refit market including a full 2019, 2020, 2021 estimated drydocking scheduled based on available data and research.

The report offers interviews with key drydocking executives from cruise lines, suppliers and shipyards, as well as case studies, trend reports and much more.