Martifer in the running for the concession of Setúbal shipyard

Martifer, the Portuguese multinational industrial group focused on metallic constructions, the shipbuilding industry and renewables, is to compete in a competition to run the Mitrena naval shipyards at the Port of Setúbal for which the concession is currently held by Lisnave.

The company currently also has the concession of the Viana do Castelo shipyards in that town in the north of Portugal where it employs 1,200 people and is enjoying full order books under its subsidiary West Sea.

The company builds polar expedition ships, military vessels, and dredgers, as well as cruise boats and carrying out ship repairs.

Now with the shipyard packed with projects, and the Portuguese State’s pledge to up military spending and investment, Martifer, which also runs the Navalría Shipyards in Aveiro, is now looking to win the concession in Setúbal.

An official source at Martifer told the business daily Negócios, “Martifer has an interest in evaluating this opportunity when the competition is launched”.

The Mitrena shipyards are run by Lisnave, a private company, but the infrastructures are owned by the Portuguese State – considered strategic assets – which announced on Monday that they would no longer fall under the aegis of the Ministry of the Economy, but would be transferred to the responsibility of the Ministry of Infrastructures.

This means that they will fall under the domain of the Setúbal and Sessimbra Ports Authority (APSS), which in turn will be responsible for launching the public competition for the new concession which begins in 2027.

And apparently, high-up military figures in the Portuguese navy are supportive of Martifer, which in 2024 had a turnover of €264 million, winning the international competition for the construction of eight coastal patrol vessels, each costing around €15 million.

Credit: Porto de Setúbal