The Genoese newspaper Secolo XIX and the online shipping portal The MediTelegraph have reported that  the Shandong Ocean Investment group, a Beijing-based company involved in maritime transport and logistics, manufacturing and engineering, are in talks for the acquisition of the shipyard in Savona. The transaction is believed to exceed €30 million and would include Cantieri di Pisa, the Tuscan boat builder that was formerly part of the Baglietto group, acquired by Mondomarine in 2015.

Furthermore, Xu Xinyu, vice-president of China’s Weichai Power company—part of the industrial enterprise that owns Ferretti Group—is believed to be acting as an intermediary between Shandong Ocean Investment and the Savona-based shipyard.

The acquisition of Mondomarine would allow Shandong Ocean Investment group to enter the Italian yachting sector through a recognised brand. According to other sources, the Chinese group is also interested in creating a yachting hub in the province of Savona, a plan that would include the Marina di Loano, a facility with berths for yachts up to 77m in length.

Mondomarine is controlled by majority shareholder Alessandro Falciai, who has been looking for a buyer for some months, and stakeholder Roberto Zambrini as managing director. All production at the shipyard is currently at a standstill with workers on stay-at-home pay (pictured above: 60m Sarastar, the last new build to be launched by Mondomarine in September 2016).

Photo credit: images by Justin Ratcliffe

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