Monaco Marine

Written by Carlos Serra. Issue Nº 51

Refit

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Slipway and refit centre in La Ciotat

In the heart of the paradise for luxury yachts, the French company has secured a vital spot for the maintenance and repair jobs for large boats.

With a very high percentage of the fleet of large luxury yachts based on the coast that goes from Viareggio to Marseille, and the sea close to these shores also being the world’s most attractive both for owners as for charter guests it is logical that in the area there are high level services. Monaco Marine was born there, a company dedicated to care for boats, sales and repair, with representative offices in ports such as Beaulieu Sur Mer, Montecarlo, Saint Tropez, Frejus, Saint Laurent du Var and since three years ago, in La Ciotat. The first three centres mentioned are completely saturated, as almost every leisure facility in the French Riviera, and hence the location of La Ciotat, with its unusual size and facilities designed to grow, being a more than required change.
The dockage esplanade that Monaco Marine operates in that French port, located about 30 kilometres from Marseille, is the largest of its kind in the whole Mediterranean. Its 2000 tonnes and over 80 meters long sincrolift are also the most powerful dockage services exclusive for yachts, without the dirt and the difficulties caused by industrial facilities.

A population thrown into shipbuilding

Getting a service centre for large yachts that would complement the work of its other locations was the proposal of Monaco Marine when, almost ten years ago, they decided to get the space and to adapt it with a significant investment. Both the proximity of the yachts as well as the size of the port and its shipbuilding tradition, beneficial when it comes to getting skilled labour, were accompanying the project.
It had difficulties that explain the long initial design of the project of the Monaco Marine shipyard, and that we will explain, being intrinsic with the centre. They started to talk about it ten years ago, in 2000, and only seven years after Monaco Marine was able to service the first customers. La Ciotat had been for over a century, a town devoted exclusively to the shipyard that was producing military and merchant ships, on its West shore, where almost 5.000 locals were employed. The closing of the company in 1987, because of the changes in the market demands and the European Community requirements, created a trauma of immense proportions and the equivalent social conflict. This made it impossible, for over ten years, to have any attempt to use those spaces occupied by a squad of workers on the war path that refused any plan if they did not recover the thousands of jobs lost.

Vicent Larroque, commercial director of La Ciotat premises and one the first employee there, tells that in 2002 Monaco Marine finally got the agreement of the city and other authorities, including the belligerent trade unions, and they prepared the large esplanade for their needs. In the same space at the port of La Ciotat, that is now free, other sections of the old shipyard were gradually occupied by other yachting companies such as the Composite Works and Classic Works shipyards. Also auxiliary industries dedicated to metal joinery, rigging, carpentry and electronics occupied spaces thanks to the drive of the community. The turning point in the social conflict was reached and La Ciotat approached its future creating an industrial and services area whose focal point was clearly going to be the settling in of Monaco Marine.