With four yacht-building brands under its umbrella, and some of those same brands having quite large contracts, Palumbo Superyachts has been seeking further facilities for construction. Last month it acquired rights to use a state-owned shipyard in the Port of Ortona in Italy for metal fabrication.
Ortona is in the Abruzzo region on the Adriatic Sea. It’s farther south from where ISA Yachts, Columbus Yachts, Extra Yachts, and Mondomarine projects currently see construction, all in Ancona. The new shipyard encompasses 140,458 square feet (nearly 13,049 square meters) and specializes in steel and aluminum. Additionally, it has its own slipway and unobstructed access to the water, plus benefits from regional suppliers. “We have chosen a territory whose DNA is rooted in metal shipbuilding and which possesses highly valuable technical expertise,” says Giuseppe Palumbo, Palumbo Superyachts’ sole director. “Our objective is to further strengthen our production capacity by investing in infrastructure, people, and innovation.”
For comparison, the Ancona shipyard is 559,723 square feet (52,000 square meters). Expansion is particularly necessary because Palumbo Superyachts presently has 24 megayachts in various stages of construction. For instance, an ISA Gran Turismo 80 yacht dubbed Project Future (above) is in the works for a repeat client. Delivery takes place next year. Two similar-size yachts are in build, too. Currently, the largest ISA Yachts contract is a 328-footer (100-meter), bearing the sporty Gran Turismo styling. In total, about half of the 24 projects under construction fall under ISA Yachts, a mix of spec and client orders.
Among the other brands, Columbus Yachts has a few contracts and spec builds. They include hulls one and two of the 38M Columbus Atlantique series. She’s a 125-footer (38-meter) with a sloping stern borrowed from sailing yachts. As for Extra Yachts, a few hulls in the X100 (below) and X90 Fast series are in build. No contracts or spec projects have been announced for Mondomarine.
Altogether, the Palumbo Superyachts brands concentrate on semi-custom and custom yachts from 90 to 328 feet (27.5 to 100 meters). Giuseppe Palumbo notes the popularity of Italian-built yachts as another reason for the expansion. “We look to the future with ambition, confident that this new development will significantly contribute to the competitiveness of Italian yachting in global markets,” he concludes.
Palumbo Superyachts https://www.palumbosuperyachts.com/