I read in a recent report about the current state of orders within the ship building industry that, in the opinion of the well-respected author, ‘Higher prices for new vessels appear to be here to stay’. For most of us who serve the global marine industry this has to be the good news we have long been waiting for.
It is my opinion that the marine industry currently only in existence and surviving reasonably well because of the good grace of many governments around the world that subsidise their shipbuilders one way or another. With the very cheap prices that have been charged over the past few years and in some cases continue to be charged, it must have just been a matter of time before some countries decided that the cost of baling out exceeds the benefits of supporting operational shipbuilders and decided to pull the plug on them.
Most of the industries established suppliers, including Solar Solve Marine, do not have the benefit of organisations that can help them with financial assistance when things get tough. We have to think on our feet and do whatever we can to ride out the storm. In our case there are other markets that we can sell our brand leading SOLASOLV and ROLASOLV Type Approved products to and that makes a huge difference to the continued success of the business, whatever the marine industry is going through.
Having said that, if shipyards can become self-sufficient again, or nearly, then we can all move forward more confidently and contribute in a more positive way towards an increasing global economy through exports.
