Colombia’s favorite

ASTIVIK SHIPYARD I PROFILE

Astivik Shipyard is located on Colombia’s Caribbean coast inside Cartagena de Indias protected bay. Celebrating 50 years of experience in the marine sector this year, Astivik now takes the crown for maximum lifting ability also within its homeland – with a capacity 4,000 tonnes. After starting out as a company created to provide maintenance for a fishing concern, Astivik now has customers both international and domestic and has grown to a business that, directly and indirectly, supports 2,500 jobs. Article written by Jordan Yallop.

Originally founded in 1972 as a part of Vikingos, a renowned Colombian fishing company, Astivik was originally created to solely provide maintenance and repair to its own fleet. Now 50 years on, Astivik has consolidated itself as a company with trust from both national and international markets.

With a lot of effort and hard work, Astivik has established itself as one of the region’s most successful shipyards. Today it provides services ranging from ship repair, maintenance and design, to building, retrofit and equipment rental.

Cristhian Mar, Business Development Manager said: “We have a wide portfolio of clients in more than 20 countries around the world. Customer confidence has been generated from the fulfilment of our value promise that understands three main needs of the client – quality, time and fair prices.

“This is very evident when you have clients in the Pacific Ocean who prefer to sail more than 800 nautical miles passing through other shipyards and crossing the Panama Canal.”

Keen to highlight the shipyard’s 50-year milestone, Mr Mar said Astivik will be celebrating with everyone that has made it possible.

“Our team, collaborators and customers, all who we consider part of the Astivik family, will join us in celebrating our 50-year anniversary,” he said.

In the 1980s the company undertook its first constructions and began to provide services to the Colombian maritime sector. In 2004 Astivik built its first floating drydock with a capacity of 1,200 tonnes; it was the first of its kind to be both designed and built in Colombia.

In the same year, Vikingos sold Astivik to Carsun LLC, a North American company, and began serving foreign-flagged vessels. 2011 saw the Astivik IV floating drydock built and with its total lifting capacity of 4,000 tonnes, it has cemented Astivik’s position as Colombia’s premier shipyard. The financial figures back this up, too. The yard has made more than $20 million in export sales in the last two years alone and has used in excess of 2,000 tonnes of processed steel in the last three years.

Hectares of quality service

Astivik has a site that covers seven hectares, with a covered area of 2,155 sqm and three floating drydocks. Also, the company has an Airbag docking position to haul large barges, a high-performance slipway and a 984 ft pier.

Jaime Sanchez, Vice President, said: “We have put a lot of effort into increasing our capacity to attend bigger vessels and by doing so, increasing the job opportunities in our region. Today we have created over 2,500 jobs between direct and indirect specialised and dedicated workers. We also support them through training and education to help develop new skills for a rapidly changing industry.”

Astivik currently has clients in Panama, the Caribbean islands, Europe, Asia and the USA, which due to the Free Trade Agreement, permits US flag vessels to do maintenance and repair in Colombia.

ASTIVIK SHIPYARD I PROFILE

Mr Mar underlined that customer service is one of the biggest factors to which Astivik pays special attention; the company understands the criticality of these types of services within the sector. As such Astivik aims to offer a bespoke, personalised service which pays special attention to delivery times and quality.

“Due to the demand, we have focused our efforts on maintenance and repair and we have achieved great results in this area. We have also developed some of the most important private newbuild projects in our country, ranging from barges, floating drydocks, bay tugboats, to the most efficient push boat navigating the Magdalena River,” said Mr Mar.

Mr Sanchez added: “We would like to attend more newbuild projects, but in our country these are very limited and unfortunately, we cannot participate in defence vessel projects. But with our expertise we are very positive that soon we will participate in the foreign newbuild market.”

Both foreign and domestic

Astivik, considered by many to be the Caribbean region’s best option for ship design, repair, maintenance, and shipbuilding, has a wide portfolio including expertise in the maintenance and repair of azimuthal systems. Currently 70% of Astivik’s sales is from its export services. Mr Mar stated that this is not because the domestic market is unimportant, it is because it is limited, and Astivik currently already has 80% of the domestic market share.

Mr Mar said: “As I stated, we have extensive experience in newbuilds, more than 40, for companies like Drummond, Glencore, Seacore, Impala/Trafigura among others. All have been constructed to be compliant with international standards such as ABS, Lloyd’s Register or Bureau Veritas regulations.”

One such case study is the RR Dorada pusher, which at 3,300 bhp, is considered the most powerful river pusher ever designed and built in Colombia. Specially designed for the complex navigation of the Magdalena River, it was built in a record time of seven months by Astivik in 2015.

A strong link in the chain

The ship repair and maintenance markets are an increasingly competitive ones. Customers not only expect good prices but the demand for quality is also increasingly high. Consequently, Astivik remains steadfast in its commitment to continually provide its clients a service that exceeds their expectations by combining the themes of quality with prompt delivery times, competitive prices and safety. This ethos has not only allowed Astivik to

ASTIVIK SHIPYARD I PROFILE

consolidate itself into its customers trust but also stabilising its position as one of the region’s main shipyards.

In light of this, Mr Mar was quick to reiterate that customer service is precisely what differentiates Astivik from other shipyards.

“We understand that vessels are the main assets of our customers. Our clients consider us their allies and their friends. Suppliers, too, are a fundamental link in our chain… without them it would have been impossible to celebrate our 50th anniversary.”

Emissions and sustainability are two of the most important topics in the maritime world today and Astivik is addressing these within its 2025 Master Plan. The shipyard has set in motion the mitigation of its electrical energy systems by moving to solar derived energy, and simultaneously, staff are fully prepared for the installation of hybrid propulsion systems and scrubbers.

As with almost every industry and sector, Astivik has seen some very challenging years, not just limited to the Covid pandemic and supply chain issues, but also constant increases in prices of raw materials, such as steel, paint and welding supplies which are currently rampant throughout the business world.

“These challenges have forced us to be more competitive, we have taken this time to focus on our people,” Mr Sanchez said. “Working on cultural transformation programs oriented to improve quality and efficiency; all this framed in safety and always with the goal of excellence in our agenda. This ultimately has resulted in great service.”

A positive future

For the past year, Astivik has continued the execution of its master plan, which also includes the modernisation of infrastructure and acquisition of new equipment. Further to this, the shipyard will begin the construction of a new floating drydock that will have a lifting capacity of 8,000 tonnes. These additions will help them position themselves within the tanker, cargo and fishing vessel segments.

Mr Sanchez concluded: “We have been (and will remain) optimistic. The shipyard industry is known as one of the oldest, most open, and highly competitive markets in the world. Astivik has proven experience in surviving spikes and downturns in the economy and we will remain positive, and work towards the development of our company and the shipyard industry in our country.” n