Palumbo Superyachts Refit, whose temporary lease of the Mondomarine yard is expiring, reportedly has provisional approval for longer-term use. However, the assignment faces appeal by Monaco Marine.
According to Italian newspapers, the Port Authority of Savona, Italy, granted Palumbo Group, parent company of Palumbo Superyachts Refit, a four-year land concession. (The Port Authority owns the property.) Palumbo Superyachts Refit currently has a six-month lease, ending June 30. The papers claim fellow refit specialist Monaco Marine is challenging the four-year lease, but don’t elaborate.
We requested commentary from each firm. A Palumbo spokesperson says the acquisition process is ongoing. Monaco Marine did not reply by press time. Previous media reports, though, may provide insight into its appeal.
In December 2017, Palumbo requested, and received, its current six-month lease. The company further indicated that it wanted to use the site permanently. But, La Stampa and Savona News both reported in February that Monaco Marine challenged Palumbo’s right to use the land. In fact, the papers state, Monaco Marine filed the appeal in January, with the administrative regional court.
It stems from the Port Authority’s prior 30-year land concession, facing an expiration of its own. The Port Authority grants concessions dictating how companies may use its property. Those concessions usually come in the form of long-term deals. The land concession that permitted Mondomarine to operate a shipyard there dated to 1987. It was set to expire on December 31, 2017. La Stampa reports that the Port Authority president signed a four-year land concession extension days before the expiration. That, the newspaper indicates, spurred the January appeal. Monaco Marine took issue with the timing, since it came after Palumbo’s six-month lease approval. La Stampa says it signed the lease on December 6.
Both La Stampa and Savona News further indicate that Monaco Marine submitted its own bid to buy Mondomarine. That bid, though, came in January, after the bid process closed. Monaco Marine withdrew the bid as well as the initial challenge in early March.
Whatever the outcome of the new appeal, it doesn’t affect Mondomarine’s sister company, Cantieri di Pisa. Neither Monaco Marine nor Palumbo Group expressed interest in that site. Instead, Baltic Yachts bid for Cantieri di Pisa, according to Italian media reports this week. Baltic Yachts declined to comment on the matter when we contacted a spokesperson.
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