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Economics Society Visit to Fincantieri on 1st April 2006
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At 09.00 on April Fools Day a group gathered in Fore Courtyard to take part in an Economics
Society trip into Monfalcone to visit the Fincantieri Shipyard. After some weak April Fools
jokes about walking into Monfalcone, the group jumped into two vans driven by Peter Howe and
Malcolm Price for the 15 minute ride to the lighthouse in Piazzale Cosulich for the start of the
visit.
Dario Boscarolli’s father was employed by Fincantieri from the 1920s to the 1950s, so he was
able to tell us some of the history and importance of the Monfalcone shipyard. Fincantieri
was originally owned by the Cosulich family, but was nationalised by Mussolini's Government in the
1930s. Many famous ships were manufactured at Monfalcone, including the cruise liner “Rex” in
the 1930s and the aircraft carrying cruiser “Garibaldi” in the 1960s. For the last fifteen
years Monfalcone has concentrated on producing cruise liners, with Fincantieri’s merchant and naval
work allocated to its seven other shipyards around Italy.
The group’s tour of the shipyard started with two videos about Fincantieri and the
construction of a cruise liner. After the videos and a complementary coffee, we were all
issued with hard-hats and bussed to the top end of the yard nearest to Monfalcone town
centre. Here we saw the cold rolled steel plates, which are the basic building blocks of a
metal-hulled ship.
We expressed surprise at the rusty condition of the plates, which are stored in the open air,
but our guide, Salvatore Magnamano, said the rust was only surface deep. As we talked we saw
an overhead crane pick up a large steel plate using electro magnets and take it to an oven
where the plate was heated and bombarded by thousands of tiny ball bearings to clear away the rust
and prepare the steel for use.
Each sheet of metal has a unique identification number, so it can be tracked by computer
throughout the production process. We saw a plasma cutter that could slice into a solid metal
sheet like butter, producing pieces for use as ribs. These were welded onto the big sheets by
robotic welders to make profiles, which were then assembled into discrete units.
As someone noted, the whole process was similar to constructing a model out of Lego,
starting with individual pieces, fitting them together to make sub-assemblies and then putting the
sub-assemblies together to make a ship.
As we walked through the huge construction hanger, the pieces became larger and larger.
The cranes and laser welders also grew in size and strength, until we came to the dry dock, where a
ship was taking shape. Fincantieri has streamlined the production process, so that they can
construct a 115,000 metric tonne ship in just 18 months.
At the time we visited, they had one ship in pieces on the workshop floor, another in the dry
dock waiting for the last sub-assemblies and one in the water being fitted out. Fincantieri
have 2,000 employees and workers in Monfalcone, but there are another 3,000 sub-contractors on
site.
Each cruise liner has a value of over EUR 450 million, but they can earn up to EUR 250
million a year for their operators, so have quite a fast pay back period. Each of the ships
can carry up to 3,500 passengers and 1,500 crew; they initially operate in the Mediterranean but
usually end up in the Caribbean.
Each ship is custom designed on massive computer programmes, as a joint venture between
Fincantieri and Princess, Cunard or whoever has placed the order. Fincantieri has an order
book until 2009, comprising almost 50% of the world’s outstanding orders for cruise liners.
At the end of our visit we went to stand beside the “Crown Princess” which was launched late
in 2005 and is being fitted out for a maiden cruise in June 2006. Standing on the dock
looking up at the 10 decks towering above us it felt as if we were on a sidewalk in a big city; it
looked more like a skyscraper than a ship that could reach speeds of 20 knots.
The Fincantieri shipyard is a remarkable place and a very successful Italian business.
Malcolm Price
9th April 2006
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List of participants:
Ilinca Budeanu (Romania),Khoa Nguyen (Viet Nam),Terence Steinberg (U.S.A.), Marina Martignoni
(Italia), Bulat Zagidullin (Russia), Leah Fraimow-Wong (U.S.A.),Julian Hauser
(Svizzera), Elliot Leung (Hong Kong), Michael Hempel (Canada), Dobromir Parushev
(Bulgaria),Tribun Ferizaj (Serbia-Montenegro), Marjolein de Haan (Paesi Bassi), Rimma Rapoporte
(Ita/Lituania), Dario Boscarolli (Italia), Julius Krajnak (Rep. Slovacca), Peter Howe (Canada) and
Malcolm Price (Regno Unito)
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