NIBULON has announced 2013 as a year of shipbuilding, proceeding with expansion of its own shipping company. In July 2013 St. Mykolai floating crane was constructed, and in 2012 the company purchased basic assets and property complex of Mykolayiv shipbuilding yard “Lyman”.
For its centuries-old history the shipyard has changed six names. Taking into consideration its long history and geographic location, the new subdivision is named the shipbuilding and repair yard “NIBULON”.
“The event is quite symbolic, because Mykolayiv region receives the new and operating shipbuilding yard”, tells Yuriy Karmalov, deputy shipyard director on preproduction, “From now on our company will strengthen its leadership positions in the shipbuilding sector, creating powerful rivalry to the domestic shipyards. On the basis of the shipbuilding and repair yard “NIBULON” we will continue to extend our own shipping company. At present there is performed maintenance of tugs and non-self-propelled vessels. Besides, metal cutting has been started which means construction commencement of two tugs of POSS-115 series. In order to organize the shipyard operation, there will be created 350 workplaces – a serious contribution to employment of Mykolayiv citizens”.
Kostyantyn Karpuhin, a foreman of the assembly and welding division, tells “I am engaged in shipbuilding for my whole life. I travelled all over Ukraine, worked at Mykolayiv shipyards. Unfortunately, today the situation in the shipbuilding industry is complicated in Ukraine; the sector does not develop. Consequently, when I was invited to work for NIBULON, I did not hesitate a second on finding out about new shipyard. Frankly speaking, I do not see any shipbuilding prospects except NIBULON. The shipyard is perspective, and everything will be fine”.
Maryna Nagybina, an electric and gas welder, mentions that the shipyard will differ from other enterprises considerably, “You can feel stability in a number of projects and their implementation, in serious and professional approach. It will be a model shipyard, and we will outdo foreign shipbuilders”.
According to Volodymyr Zhmura, a head of the ship repair service, purchase of the shipyard became a reasonable diversification dictated by a state of affairs in the domestic agrarian market and shipbuilding sector. “Taking into account practical experience, the company’s own fleet is a real prospect and success. Logistics will win a lot. It is necessary to build fleet in future, but we should not forget maintenance. NIBULON experiences in construction at domestic and foreign shipyards. We have highly-skilled team and reliable contractors. I do not know other examples, when an agrarian company became a shipbuilding one. Thus, own shipyard and independent shipbuilding are plans for the future”, he adds.
Oleksandr Gusev, a ship’s fitter, worked at the leading Mykolayiv shipyards in due time, and today he calls himself NIBULON’s employee. He tells, “Little time has passed since reconstruction commencement, and it is pleasant to recollect things that were done! I am looking forward to constructing self-propelled vessels. It is hard to get used to the fact that the agrarian company will organize grain shipment worldwide by using its own fleet. I am ready for business trips and will adopt experience of foreign colleagues with pleasure”.
Now at the shipyard there work the whole teams who came to NIBULON from other shipyards. Yuriy Badyul, a hull assembler, holds his team (14 persons) up as an example. He mentions that majority of people have traditionally been working together for more than 10 years. And it is not a single example. Yuriy stresses that such friendship and solidarity are a guarantee of stability and success for the whole team of the shipyard.
“At present we start in-depth reconstruction of the shipyard with the participation of the best foreign companies and corporations, such as TTS Сonsulting (Norway), KEMCO (South Korea), Via Nova Plants (Italy)”, mentions Volodymyr Medun, a logistics manager, “The new shipyard will operate in a new way and in compliance with new priorities and principles. There will be strict contract discipline. We are proud that our vessels will be a hundred percent Ukrainian, from Ukrainian metal and sail under Ukraine’s flag. For somebody these are just ordinary words, and for us it is an idea that inspires”.
Vyacheslav Borets, a leading engineer of the ship repair service, is a person to be cited as an example. The experienced specialist trained several generations of shipbuilders. Experience, technical base, practical skills are things he knows perfectly and shares with his followers. He jokes, “I have a lot of things to learn, including to adopt attitude to life and optimism from young generations. There are no limits to perfection”.
Dmytro Gorbenko, a director of the shipyard, “Our key client is NIBULON’s shipping company. The shipyard has already had orders for the next two years, including construction of two pusher-tugs and non-self-propelled vessels, scheduled repair and maintenance of fleet.  These are tasks for the near future. It is planned in-depth modernization of the shipyard and entering a new level – construction of self-propelled vessels of “Volgo-Don Max” class. To build vessels of such sizes in the small territory (the shipyard territory is 7.6 ha) is a real challenge which is accepted by our team. We will do everything to make our shipyard different from other ones. After in-depth reconstruction the shipyard will have no analogues in Ukraine. We are a part of NIBULON that follows only such principles and ideas”.