On Monday, the Commercial Court of Marseille declared Palumbo Group the winner of the tender for the acquisition of International Technic Marine (ITM) in Marseille.

There were two players in the final stages of the bid, the Maltese company Melita Marine, which withdrew its bid just before the final decision of the Court, and Palumbo Group, which resulted to be the winner.

Palumbo Marseille Superyachts ITM, the new name of the Shipyard, covers an area of about 12,000 sqm comprising four large dry docks ranging from 80 to 126 metres, a water-shed of about 95 metres and more than 300 metres of quays for afloat repairs.

Palumbo Group kept eight of the former managers in employment. The shipyard, located in the port of Marseille, is one of the biggest shipyards in the Mediterranean fully dedicated to superyachts. Palumbo Marseille Superyachts ITM will now be included in the network of Palumbo Shipyards in the Mediterranean and will represent an excellence refit centre and also an additional after-sale point for clients of Columbus Yachts, the company said. Palumbo Group plans to start its investment in the facilities, buying new equipment and lifting systems in order to improve and increase the range of services to offer its clients.

Palumbo Shipyard has been in the shiprepair industry for over 45 years. The company, founded in 1967, started its activity in the shiprepair field and now operates in construction, refit, repair and maintenance of every type of vessel in its five shipyards – Naples, Messina, Marseille and Malta with two yards.

During the last years, the company has been expanding its core business through the creation of a platform in the heart of the Mediterranean, building a network in the shiprepair industry, in the off-shore sector and in the yachting sector.

With the ITM Marseille acquisition, Palumbo has an extended platform comprising 14 dry docks (six of them fully dedicated to superyachts) ranging from 40 metres up to a maximum 360 metres in length, more than one kilometre of quays and an operational area covering about 520,000 square metres, offering a substantial range of products to the general maritime, shiprepair and yachting sectors.

Palumbo Group thanked the city of Marseille for the warm welcome and said that it is doing its best to get the shipyard fully operative as soon as possible.