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  • Zamakona celebra la ceremonia de amadrinamiento del buque “Bunker Breeze” para el grupo Suardiaz

    En el día de hoy ha tenido lugar en las instalaciones de ZAMAKONA en Santurce la ceremonia de amadrinamiento del nuevo buque de suministro de combustible “BUNKER BREEZE” para el GRUPO SUARDIAZ.

    El acontecimiento ha contado con la presencia de representantes de la compañía armadora así como varias autoridades del Gobierno Vasco, Autoridades Portuarias y Capitanía Marítima. 

    También han estado presentes representantes de las distintas empresas directamente involucradas en el proyecto tales como Cepsa, Bureau Veritas, etc… así como diferentes representantes del sector.

    El “Bunker Breeze” tiene 86 metros de eslora por 17 de manga y un peso muerto de 5.250 toneladas. El buque cuenta con capacidad para albergar 10 tanques de carga de HFO y MDO y diseñado “ready” para poder instalar 4 tanques para suministro de gas natural licuado.

    El nuevo buque de suministro de combustible “BUNKER BREEZE” para la compañía Suardiaz Energy Shipping (Grupo Suardiaz) es la tercera construcción de Zamakona para este mismo Armador.

    Esta embarcación de suministro se trata de una innovadora solución que podrá cubrir todo el espectro de combustibles marinos desde los combustibles tradicionales (fuelóleos, gasóleos) hasta los más novedosos (GNL).

    El Grupo Zamakona Yards dispone de instalaciones en Santurtzi (Vizcaya), Pasajes (Guipúzcoa) y Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Islas Canarias), contando con más de 41 años de experiencia en la construcción y reparación naval de todo tipo de buques.

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  • Balance of SINAVAL 2017

    On March 31th ended another edition of SINAVAL, a meeting that is considered one of the main references of the naval sector in Spain and Europe. This year, for the first time, it was part of the Maritime World Week program, along with the Marine Energy Week, Eurofishing and FuturePort fairs, which were held at the Bilbao Exhibition Center of the Basque Country.

    According to the organization, a total of 1,747 professionals attended to this event to learn about the latest technological advances and to look for new business opportunities in the “blue economy” or the industries of the sea. This industry currently moves 275 billion euros in the European Union. In addition, 100 speakers from 16 different countries took part in the round tables and seminars, being able to show their specialized vision on various aspects of maritime news.

    Among all these presentations, it is worth mentioning the one carried out by the Basque Maritime Forum, an organization that brings together associations, public institutions and companies from the Basque maritime sector. This presentation analysed the situation of the naval industry and its prospects in Spain and in the Basque Country. It was stated that for this year 2017 there is “a slight tendency of improvement”, having as the main challenge of “recovering levels of activity that consolidate the Industry and enable to regain their position and prestige in the international market “.

    Furthermore, this organization announced that in the first months of 2017, the Basque shipyards, which currently have a portfolio of 33% of the total national orders, have matched the contract figures formalized last year. Thus, the orders to the shipyards of the Basque Autonomous Community are 20 out of a total of 55 orders in the private sector in Spain, and where Zamakona Yards owns 10 projects out of the total accounted.

    In order to continue this trend and be sustainable over time, the Basque Maritime Forum has launched its new Strategic Plan 2017-2020 to “deal with competitiveness” in the new economic scenario, with the aim of strengthening internationalization, to foster the cooperation between enterprises, training and innovation.

    For Zamakona Yards, it is always a satisfaction to support and participate at SINAVAL, as it allows us to show our capabilities and be in direct contact with the public institutions, clients, providers and the naval industry form Spain and Europe.

    Sources of information (in Spanish): Diario Vasco and Bilbao Exhibition Center

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  • The world fishing fleet state according to the FAO

    The nutrition of the human has made fishing an essential practice and consequently has been the origin of the naval construction. This sector has been able to contribute in each moment f history solutions that have covered the needs of the fishing industry.

    In recent years, the fishing sector is facing big challenges due to a demand for greater profitability and performance, in addition to obey the different regulations regarding respect for the environment in all its aspects. To meet these challenges, the sector has reduced direct costs as the number of employees and has also been benefited by the price of fuel.

    As for the challenge of being more environmentally friendly, the gases such as CO2 and NOx have become a growing problem in a global perspective. To reduce these emissions, many governments plan to replicate land-based emissions taxes on emissions from ships in their fishing activities.

    While steps are being taken in the above mentioned, legislative changes are taking place regarding the specifications of fishing vessels, such as in the European Union, which foresees in the middle of the year 2017 to adopt a new regulation that grants to the Commission European competence to adapt the requirements for determining the continuous power of the engine to the technical developments and possible changes in the international ISO standards.

    World capture fisheries and aquaculture productionAccording to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in its latest biennial published report on the state of world fisheries and aquaculture (SOFIA), estimated that in 2014, there were 4.6 million fishing vessels, with Asia and Africa being the regions with the highest number of registrations, since they account for 90% of the total number of vessels worldwide.

    From a technical point of view, according to the same FAO report, 64% of registered vessels are engine-powered, an increase of 7% compared to the previous report for 2012. This report also states that in 2014, approximately 85 per cent of the world’s motorized fishing vessels were less than 12 meters long, and these small vessels dominated in all regions.

    In terms of capacity, and if we focus on Europe, the EuroStat Service estimates that in 2015 the European Union had a combined capacity of 1.6 million gross tons and a combined engine power of 6.4 million kilowatts. It is also noted that almost one-fifth (18.2%) of the EU-28 fishing fleet is registered in Greece. In terms of capacity, Spain, France, Italy and the United Kingdom had the largest fishing fleets, accounting for 53.9% of gross tonnage and 55.6% of engine power in 2015.

    There are positive data in the sector, such as the profitability of the sector. The European fishing fleet continues to be profitable, with net profits of 770 million euros in 2014, more than 50% above last year’s profits, according to the latest annual report prepared by the European Commission which also foresees record profits in the year 2016.

    In the case of Spain, it recorded a net profit margin of 16.5%, the third highest percentage in the EU, only surpassed by Slovenia (35.7%) and the United Kingdom (18.3%). Ireland, Latvia, Estonia and Portugal also had a profit margin of more than 10% in 2014.

    The outlook for fish and fisherie products trade by 2025, according to FAO, is also positive. Trade will continue to be high, driven mainly by increased consumption of fishery products, trade liberalization policies, globalization of food systems, technological innovations in shipbuilding, product development conservation, packaging and transport.

    All these data suggest that in the medium and long term the fishing fleet will continue to grow or will need to introduce elements of innovation in the existing fleet. Therefore, the naval sector has the opportunity to continue growing and providing added value to this sector with solutions that are more respectful of the environment and that can be applied to the current fleet, as well as the building of new ships according to the new demands of the ship-owners and legislative requirements in all respects.

    In this sense, Zamakona Yards has implemented the latest concepts of design and construction, as well as the most advanced technology in engineering and naval architecture in all the constructions, repairs and refit for the fishing vessels.

    If you want to read the full report of the FAO, you can download it here

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  • Inaugural Ceremony for the Vessel “Guria” of the Nicra-7 Tuna Fishery

    ZAMAKONA SHIPYARD is the beneficiary of the confidence of the Prestigious Tuna Fishery, Nicra-7, and is delivering their new Tuna Freezer vessel, “Guria” at the Bizkaia Este dock of the Port of Bilbao. This Saturday, Astilleros ZamakonaS.A.

    Will hold the inauguration ceremony of the first of this innovative type of vessel for the Bermean Compoany. This act will be attended by representatives from both companies, the Port of Bilbao and authorities of the Basque Government. This vessel, the “Guria” is construction Nº 751 of the Santurce Shipyard and is a project of new design with the latest and most modern technology built to the specifications of this Bermean Shipowner. It has a length of 81 meters and a top speed of 16 knots thanks to its power plant of 5440CV. The crew is composed of 27 mariners to handle a capture capacity of 1708 m3 of tuna. The vessel will fish in the Atlantic Ocean. The company, Nicra-7, expressed their satisfaction on the construction of a new vessel for the first time at this shipyard and has said that it will not be the last, thanks to the degree of cooperation and the quality of construction received.

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  • The Spanish Hospital Ships, “Juan De La Cosa” and “Esperanza Del Mar” repaired in Zamakona Yards

    Recently, we’ve successfully carried out repairs and maintenance simultaneously on the two emblematic government owned hospital ships, Juan De La Cosa and Esperanza Del Mar.

     

    It occurred that the two vessels were repaired simultaneously. The vessel Juan De La Cosa was repaired at Zamakona Pasaia yard at San Sebastian and the Esperanza Del Ma” at our yard, Repnaval, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

     

    Both projects were offered at public bidding and our proposals were the winners. We take great pride in being able to offer our services to these two emblematic vessels which are carrying out such important work in attending to the needs of our fishing men in the areas where they are working.

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  • Zamakona Yards launches the tuna-freezer vessel, “Guria” of the Basque company, Nicra 7

    This Friday The 3rd, Zamakona Shipyard of Santurce, belonging to the Zamakona Yards Group, successfully launched the “Guria” an ultimate generation tuna- freezer vessel. The “Guria, which means in Euskera “Ours”, with a length of 81.54 meters, is equipped with a Wartsilla 4000 kw main engine which can deliver a top speed of 16 knots.

     

    This modern tuna vessel has a storage capacity of 1708 M3 in her holds and is equipped with an accommodation for a crew of 28 persons.

     

    Her destination will be to operate in the Atlantic with three other tuna vessels of this prestigious company, the Kurtzio, the Matxikorta and the Albacora.

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  • Zamakona Yards delivered the Tuna-Freezer vessel Ízaro to the Echebastar Group

    The Echebaster Group received its new Tuna-Freezer vessel last Saturday at 12:00 from the hands of Zamakona Yards after its inauguration at the Maritime Cruise Station at Getxo, Port of Bilbao.

     

    This new Tuna vessel has a length of almost 90 meters and a capacity of 1900 m3 of fish in its 20 freezers with accommodation for 42 crew aboard and a top speed of 18.2 knots. This Saturday, the inauguration of the first of a series of three Tuna-Freezer vessels of similar characteristics that Zamakona Yards will deliver to the Bermean company by next year.

     

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  • Shipbuilding in Vizcaya in the nineteenth and twentieth century

    By Jesús M ª Valdaliso

     

    The transition from sail to steam vessels and the crisis of traditional shipyards

     

    The wooden shipbuilding industry which had a tradition for centuries in Vizcaya, after a depressing situation in the first three decades of the nineteenth century, enjoyed its last boom in the 1840s and 1850s, due to the trade revival and the maritime transport on one hand and the protection duty by the State on the other. The Basque Provinces were integrated to the Spanish Crown customs system. (more…)

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  • BILBAO PORT – HISTORY AND FUTURE

    The documented foundation of the Port of Bilbao dates from 700 years ago, but the River, where it was born, was used as natural shelter much before.

     

    In the very Middle Ages, boats arrived as far as San Anton Church situated just at the entrance to the walls that protected the town of Bilbao, where the salt water of the tides mixes with the soft waters of the Nervion River. At that time, the Port of Bilbao was the outlet to Europe for the goods from the Castilian plateau and the entry for goods from the Atlantic sea face and the South American colonies into the Iberian Peninsula.

     

    In 1511, the Consulate of Bilbao was established, and works were carried out to improve the channelling of the River, which stretches 14 kilometres to its mouth in the Bay of Biscay. However, it was in 1872 when merchants, miners, shipbuilders and industrialists joined together to set up the Council for Works of the Port and River of Bilbao. In 1877, Evaristo de Churruca, a key character in Bilbao’s history, completed the Iron Dock at Portugalete, the first port work to allow vessels with great drafts access to the River.

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