Currently providing refit work to 19 yachts ranging from 24 to 60 metres in length in an average yard space of 30,000sqm, Palumbo Superyachts Savona is by far busier than ever.

“We’re faced with overwhelming, competing challenges and uncharted waters as we continue to navigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic” says the M.D. Mr. M. Rucconi. “Out of necessity, I’ve had to set new priorities focusing on supporting our people, customers and suppliers, and orchestrating responses to supply chain disruption. In parallel, I’ve sought to stabilize revenues and take care of reshaping our customers’ orders to align with evolving circumstances and find pathways to mutually acceptable modifications to our existing agreements.”

Against this backdrop of uncertainty and complexity outmanoeuvring, the shipyard has nonetheless made good progress also with labour intensive projects like the 48.5 metre superyacht launched by Dragomar in 1993 and requiring metal works, electronics servicing and surface treatment. Despite having already ticked a number of items off the list, we still have a considerable way to go before completing this job order.
However, by the time the leisure boating lockdown is lifted, this ‘lady of the sea’ will be in pristine shape for yet another successful charter season.

Since her build in 2003 by the Australian shipyard Austal, 69 metre ‘Saluzi’ has seen extensive transformation to convert her from a cruise ship into a motor yacht as we know her today. Not surprisingly, big names were actively engaged in the process: Luiz de Basto Designs, for her luxurious interiors styled in a modern beach-house theme with an abundance of original and innovative features, and Li Jiwei, the artist who created the impressive artwork on her hull… to name a few.

However, ‘Saluzi’ is not just a ‘pretty face’ and, together with a wealth of modern facilities on board, she’s also been provided with all sorts of advanced tech-driven equipment and solutions which require regular maintenance and updating.

So, for the second year in a row, the vessel has relied on the expertise of the Palumbo Superyachts Refit network for all her servicing. “After stopping over at your Malta’s yard last year, this time round the Palumbo SY Refit Naples’ facility turned out being more convenient for us.”, says Captain Simi, adding: “Belonging to the same network provides us with the ultimate peace of mind assuring consistency across the main issues – like cost & time control and maximum quality & reliability of service – and knowing that if any snags do arise, they will be addressed in an ultimately proficient and prompt manner no matter which Palumbo’s yard we are at”.

One of the most iconic performance world cruiser, this 39m motor-sailer built by Camper & Nicholson shipyard in 1993 is relying on the expertise of our Palumbo SY Refit Marseille’s team for her servicing before the summer season.

“Designed for efficient performance, she has been consistently maintained to the highest standards”, says her management.

Originally ordered by a skilled sailing yacht owner, she was built under the highest specifications to cruise the world oceans in the utmost comfort and efficiency. “She is a powerful and well-mannered yacht, somewhat epitomizing the motor-sailer traditional features but with a turn of speed that surprises”, adds her management.

Not surprisingly, she won the Showboat International’s Innovation Award!

Unlike other sailing superyachts promising more than they can deliver, the vessel has always done exactly what said on the label, working properly as a very practical, manageable cruising yacht with well-conceived sail handling systems. Every phase of her maintenance process is painstakingly carried out by the expert hands of the Palumbo SY Refit Marseille’s team, to make sure that each element of the innovative technical solutions characterizing this ketch-rigged sailing yacht, with in-mast furling carbon spars and remote sail control system, will be performing properly.

photo credit Sigrun Sauerzapfe aka Siggi

For the past 5 months we have been hosting the luxurious superyacht ‘Solandge’ inside our covered drydock.

Turned up at Palumbo SY Refit Malta first in 2017 and then again in 2019, this was the third time that the 85.1 metre Lürssen motor yacht has entrusted Palumbo SY Refit Malta for her refit services.

On this occasion, the major activity conducted at our yard was a paint job.

So, once the scaffolding and tenting were set up, all the vessel external fittings were stripped down.

Given that the outdoor air temperature and humidity were perfect for painting – Maltese average climate conditions are favourable-, there had been no need to use any climate control system to avoid application problems and surface defects, and in the end the paint cured perfectly and we obtained a uniform flawless coating at a lower cost.

In view of the current worldwide situation, it was a great challenge for the vessel management and also for the yard to finish the project in a timely manner. The Captain himself, in his appreciation letter to the shipyard, wrote: “Helping us to finish the job on time despite the several problems imposed by the COVID-19 situation had a great beneficial impact on other pending projects we are handling”.

Throughout the entire yacht lay-up time, our main target has always been to adapt to our client’s requirements and carry out the work in the most efficient, economic and environmentally friendly way. “Your team of workers was polite, friendly, neat and fast. You all take work seriously and it shows. You did a great job!”, concluded the Captain in his written statement.

The business of Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering has for the most part always been a man’s domain. Although staff at design firms has always included women for their renowned creativity, the technical aspects were strictly “man’s stuff”. Only in the last 10 years or so we’ve seen this start to change and markedly for the better.

Rather suddenly we experienced a significant female presence also in the marine technical areas of both commercial & pleasure vessels. Today, an increasing number of technical staff are women, bringing a diverse set of talents and experience to the marine industry.

Also Palumbo SY Refit Ancona, always on the cutting edge, moved with the times and in 2018 hired their first technical female employee. Let’s get to know Project Manager Elena Savino through the following interview.

QUESTIONS:

Q. Nowadays an increasing number of women get jobs in Marine Engineering – what made you do so?
A. It all started from the small outboard on which my family used to spend summer along the Cilento coast, hence my love for mooring operations and maintenance works. Then, from the age of about 6, in the winter my father began to take me to boat storage facilities rather than to the parks. Finally, in 1999 I visited my first boat show: in Genoa, during the peak of Italian boating, and it was then that I decided what I would do and where I would be once grown up.

Q. What specific aspect of your job do you like most?
A. The constant interaction with technicians, engineers, crews and all sorts of other professionals: it is a never-ending personal growth both on a technical and human level.

Q. What do you think you can bring to Palumbo SY Refit Ancona?
A. The enthusiasm and desire to leave an imprint each under-30 graduate has, especially in a shipyard structured like Palumbo SY Refit Ancona.

Q. What challenges are you looking for in your naval architect position?
A. Developing commercial awareness. I have an essentially technical training, which in my current customer-facing role is not enough as I appreciate that close customer relations represent a high-bandwidth mode of communication that, in turn, facilitates the successful execution of any job. So gaining commercial skills is definitely my next big challenge.

Q. Describe a typical work week for you at Palumbo SY Refit Ancona (Tell me how you organize, plan, and prioritize your work).
A. Each Friday, I schedule all the activities for the following week. Despite this, unpredictable requests/ problems arise virtually every day, often to be resolved within 24 hours. Therefore, I constantly divide myself between: scheduled tasks, supervision of work on board, project analysis, technical requests/consultations with suppliers, interacting with customers, budgeting and final balancing. Even if the required technical work is often the same, each order requires a different approach and a new executive diagram.

Q. What is your biggest weakness /strength? (energy, passion, charisma …)
A. The degree of humility of who constantly wishes to learn and improve.

Q. Tell me a time you worked in a team and had to persuade someone?
A. It is common for clients to have different opinions on the solutions proposed by the shipyard. However, in a particular instance, I had to stand my ground before an entire crew plus their management, requiring the application of a rather expensive procedure for analysis and testing of a problem encountered, contravening our primary rule of optimizing times and costs, especially when success isn’t guaranteed.
What saved me was the analytical method, the application of ‘reverse engineering’, that is: reconstructing the problem starting from the projects and working my way back to the cause. It was a long ‘arm wrestling’, but in the end the analysis won, confirmed by the good results in terms of considerable savings in costs and resources.

Key skills for naval architects

• creativity
• effective technical skills
• IT skills
• problem-solving skills
• commercial awareness
• spatial awareness
• a meticulous attention to detail.