Gloomy future

Malta Shipyard's future looks gloomy says a report in The Motorship, a marine technology magazine:

As government, the management, and the workers’ union blame each other for the failure of the Malta Shipyards to become financially viable, the fate of this state company, one of Malta’s largest employers, remains uncertain.

At the end of December 2008, the EU will no longer allow Malta to give the shipyard any more financial assistance. Through a restructuring plan launched in 2002, the shipyards were scheduled to cut down annual losses, and break even by the end of this year but government sources state that 2008 will be another year of “substantial” losses for the shipyard.

While the government sources failed to comment on whether or not the shipyards will be closed down after December 2008, it is clear that this is one of the most likely options for the Maltese government.

With its strategic position in the middle of the busy Mediterranean Sea, it is hard to understand how the Malta Shipyards never managed to be profitable. It will be equally inconceivable to think of Malta, with its long maritime history, without this industry...