The project, result of an agreement between the Italian company Fincantieri and the Government of Yucatan, will attract an investment of between 300 and 500 million US dollars.
The Italian company Fincantieri announced an agreement with the Government of Yucatán to install the largest shipbuilding and maintenance center in Mexico and Latin America.
The project will total an investment ranging between 300 and 500 million US dollars and includes the construction of two dry docks within a 40-hectare site in Puerto Progreso, which will house a useful complex to repair or build vessels of up to 400 meters in length.
They expect to be in full operation by 2024.
The state government tenders for the first part of the work will be launched next year, in order to start dredging works from the second half of 2021, with the intention of raising the current capacity of Puerto Progreso to 15 meters of draft, which is around 9 meters, reported those involved.
The letter of intent was remotely signed this Tuesday by the Secretary of Economic Development and Labor of Yucatán, Ernesto Herrera Novelo, and the director of the Fincantieri Services division, Giorgio Rizzo, with the endorsement of Governor Mauricio Vila Dosal and the CEO from Fincantieri, Fabio Galla, informed the company that described the market it intends to reach with this project:
“Particularly cruise ships, large oil and gas freighters, which need complex operations. The infrastructure will also have a lifting platform for units up to 150 meters in length, ”explained Fincantieri.
“This maintenance center will have cranes, workshops, offices and specialized equipment”, according to the group that is listed on the Italian stock market and that reported revenues of 5.8 billion Euro in 2019, according to its public reports.
The Yucatecan government will be responsible for the initial works that include dredging, construction of infrastructure, and main plants, which will represent an initial spill for construction companies and jobs in that branch.
Fincantieri will initially act as a consultant for the first works and then they will build the state-of-the-art facilities, including workshops and cranes, in addition to staff training both at local institutions and at the Fincantieri Academy.
Herrera Novelo reported in an interview that among the companies directly benefiting from the construction of the project will be Grupo Millet, a Mexican manufacturer of windows, which recently expanded its capacity in the municipality of Baca, Mérida conurbation, and Niplito, a distribution company of construction supplies. , in addition to suppliers of materials.
The Italian company to be installed in Progreso will also have the power to provide the services required by the Mexican Navy. Its influence will have an impact on the entire North and Central American region, for ships that are currently served in Houston or Panama, reported the Secretary of Economic Development and Labor of Yucatan, who stressed that it was essential for the Italian company to have the legal certainty that only Yucatan can provide.
Herrera Novelo explained that for his state, this investment will have a development impact comparable to that of Grupo Modelo, of AB Inbev, which invested last five years in the Yucateca Brewery, which triggered others related to the food sector, particularly the producer Kekén pork meat, from Grupo Kuo.
Once the shipyard reaches full operational capacity, it will be able to receive around 700 full-time employees and a supply chain that will involve 2,500 workers in high demand seasons, Fincantieri reported.
