Six months after having opened at Bois Sacré, the shipyard, Monaco Marine specialized in refit, repair and maintenance of luxury ships welcomed on Thursday, Michel Ducros, its president.
He had come to officially launch the project that was to transform 35,000 m2 of industrial wasteland, including former “general store” in one of the best shipyards in the Mediterranean coast, “or the world”.
At the time, Michel Ducros, founding president of Monaco Marine, was considering that the XL yachts would hurry as of 2017 to get a makeover on the coast of Seychelles.
36 months later, on Thursday night, the former king of spices came to see for himself the success of his “baby”, one of the 7 shipyards of Monaco Marine between Marseille and Beaulieu. “The latest in technology, respect for the environment and welcoming crews”, as he was fond of remembering.
We remember that last autumn already, the gigantic travel-lift had extracted from the waves, under the enamoured objectives, the Keri Lee III and its 54 meters of refinement estimated at tens of millions of euros.
“For the marine grocer that I am, the inauguration of this site, it’s a lot of emotion” Michel Ducros explained, in front of a parterre of personalities and representatives of the economic world for which the red carpet had been unrolled.
An emotion partly because 12 years of procedures were necessary before the facilities could come into being.
He will have the opportunity to return to the second city of the Var: Monaco Marine has the authorization to occupy the sacred wood site for the next 50 years.
A SECTOR BOOMING
The yachting market is growing, with an increase in the fleet of vessels over 30 meters estimated at 54% over 10 years, while 50% of this world fleet is in the Mediterranean.
In the PACA region, the yachting market represents €728 million and 3,400 jobs.
The economic weight of the shipyards alone is estimated at €200 million with more than 250 subcontracting companies and 2,500 jobs. In La Seyne, three companies – Monaco Marine, IMS and Foselev – share the cake.
THE SHIPYARD IN BRIEF
The site opened on November 1, 2018, can accommodate simultaneously up to 27 boats from 24 to 55 m long, and set its median yachts of 560 tons for mechanical work to refit, to aesthetic or painting.
The goal of Monaco Marine, which employs 16 employees in La Seyne, is to handle 300 to 350 boats a year.
The site is: 160 m of dock, 36,000 m2 of dry storage for large multihulls and superyachts. It includes 3,600 m2 covered in the former general store, a paint shed, a gantry crane of 560 tons, as well as a mobile crane.
There are also spaces dedicated to crews, gym or outdoors with barbecue. Ports Toulon Provence, today under the umbrella of TPM, has invested €5 million (with the CCI) for the only port works of the site of sacred wood when Monaco Marine has paid €15 million for the terrestrial part. The work lasted two years.
For the record, it was in 1995 that Michel Ducros founded Monaco Marine. While visiting the Principality, he wanted to take the opportunity to repair his yacht. Dissatisfied with the services available, it is at this time that he decides to invest in the sector.
Today, the group employs 250 people and claims 20% of the fleet of yachts in the Mediterranean.