The 14 offers that were received by the Finance Ministry’s Privatisation Unit for the four operation areas of the Malta Shipyards clearly show that while there is an interest in the various operations, it is no longer viable to operate the company as we knew it until last December.

This is because whereas various entities from Europe and Asia have expressed their intention to take over one section of Malta Shipyards, none of these are willing to take over the whole of the dockyard in the way it was operating – as one big yard concentrating on different segments of the shipping industry.

This makes it clear that in this day and age a form of specialisation is required, and that it is better to have smaller firms concentrating on their own area rather than have one big company trying to keep up with its various operations. It would mean less overheads and a bigger possibility of success.

So, in a way, the privatisation process has come at the right time. With the government no longer being able to subsidise the shipyards because of European Union regulations, the “division” of the yards into four distinct companies should give the four different areas a better chance to survive.

It was known that the shipyards could not have been able to continue functioning in the way there were. Big losses were being registered year after year and too many workers were employed with the company (in spite of a downsizing exercise a few years back), meaning that unless a major overhaul was implemented, there was a risk that the company would close down, leaving 1,700 workers without a job.

And it is this that led the government to go for privatisation, which was the best way out of the problem. The move was initially resisted by the Labour Party and, most of all, by the General Workers Union, which represented the majority of workers until then employed with Malta Shipyards. After a summer of tit-for-tat, a settlement was reached between the government and the union in September – for one thing, the workers obtained a sizeable settlement and could apply to work with the new operators – and the privatisation process could start.

Three offers each were submitted for Marsa Ship Building, Malta Ship Repair and the Manoel Island Yacht Yard. Another five were received for the Malta Superyachts operation. The number of offers has been welcomed by the government, with Finance Minister Tonio Fenech saying that the privatisation yield positive results because the private sector invests more and creates new jobs in the different sectors.

With the bidding process now closed, it is now the Privatisation Unit’s turn to analyse the offers that have been submitted, after which it will select the preferred bidders and open up negotiations with them.

No timeframe has been established by the government, but it is no secret that the faster the process goes, the faster it will be for the chosen companies to take over in their new role.

It must be pointed out that currently the shipyards are in a sort of limbo. With 96 per cent of the workforce, of 1,567 workers, taking up the different retirement schemes that were offered by the government last year, and with the shipyards not taking any new orders, not much is happening in the docks these days.

And therefore the Privatisation Unit must speed up the analysis and adjudication process as much as possible. One must remember that once this process is completed, the new operators will have to recruit their own workers and start receiving orders, and this will also take its time.