Recently, two well-known European shipyards are set to undergo ownership changes: German defence giant Rheinmetall is acquiring Romania’s Mangalia Shipyard, while Turkey’s Kuzey Star Shipyard has been selected to acquire the Croatian shipyard Uljanik Brodogradnja 1856.

It is reported that this month, at an auction organized by court-appointed liquidator CITR, German defence giant Rheinmetall acquired Mangalia Shipyard for €138 million (approximately US$160 million). Located on the Black Sea coast, Mangalia Shipyard is one of Europe’s largest shipyards and will be developed into a major naval construction base. In the first phase, it will undertake a project worth a total of €920 million to build four vessels for the Romanian Navy, with funding support from the EU’s SAFE programme. At the same time, commercial civilian shipbuilding remains part of the shipyard’s future plans.

Mangalia Shipyard’s difficulties are long-standing. Founded in 1976, it was taken over and operated by South Korea’s Daewoo Group in 1997; in 2018, Dutch shipbuilder Damen entered the picture. In 2023, Damen withdrew from the cooperation due to a dispute with the Romanian government over management rights, and the shipyard declared bankruptcy in June 2024.

In addition, the Croatian Centre for Restructuring and Sale (CERP) has accepted a binding offer of €12.05 million from Turkey’s Kuzey Star Shipyard to acquire a 97.13% stake in Uljanik Brodogradnja 1856. Because the acquirer is headquartered outside the EU, the transaction is still subject to foreign investment approval.

Uljanik Brodogradnja 1856 fell into a financial crisis in 2018 and has since embarked on a restructuring process lasting several years. During the crisis, numerous contracts were cancelled, and the government eventually stepped in with a bailout. Kuzey Star Shipyard has pledged to continue shipbuilding, ship repair and floating structure construction within the concession area of Uljanik Brodogradnja 1856.