The French Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Marie, returns to Rome this afternoon to meet the Italian ministers Pier Carlo Padoan and Carlo Calenda and try to pave the way together for peace in the shipbuilding industry between Italy and France. After the great summer dispute over the French shipyards of Saint Nazaire, of which Fincantieri took over control from the Koreans by winning an international tender but to which Macron's France replied with a temporary nationalization plan, the diplomacies of the two countries are I have been working for weeks to find a new agreement that should be sealed by the bilateral agreement between Macron and Gentiloni on September 27 in Lyon.
The basic idea, which will be at the center of today's meeting at the Treasury Ministry, is to overcome the dispute over 51% of the French shipyards of Saint Nazaire, which Fincantieri claims but which the French do not want to give up, making a step forward and changing the scenario with the ambitious goal of creating a new international shipbuilding pole, not only civil but also military, which could represent the first pillar of European defence.
If an agreement is reached, our Fincantieri and the French Stx (which owns the Saint Nazaire shipyards) will form part of the new shipbuilding hub, but also and above all Naval Group, specialized in the construction of military ships, with which since 2015 Fincantieri has attempted marriage.
Basically, France and Italy are trying to overcome the dispute over the Saint Nazaire shipyards by creating a pole and a great three-way player in the international shipbuilding industry capable of assuming a leading role in both the civil and military fields with very important economic and industrial order but also political and institutional.
The modalities and governance of the three-way pole are still to be defined: will there be a share swap or will a vehicle company be created? Will the management of the civil part be assigned to Fincantieri and the military one to Naval Group? It will take time to define these aspects and it is probable that the three-way integration will take place in successive stages, but today's meeting is essential to understand whether the hour of peace between Italy and France in the shipbuilding industry is finally around the corner.
Meanwhile, today Fincantieri announced that it has signed a contract with Silversea cruises worth around 310 million euros for the construction of a new ultra-luxury cruise ship which will join the shipowner's fleet in 2020
The new unit, which should be called "Silver Moon", will be the sister ship of "Silver Muse", delivered last April at the Genoa Sestri Ponente shipyard, and like her will have a length of 212 metres, a gross tonnage of 40.700 and the accommodate 596 passengers on board, maintaining the intimacy of a small unit and the spacious cabins – all suites – which are the hallmark of Silversea
Fincantieri has built 1990 cruise ships since 78 (of which 55 since 2002), while another 31 units, including agreements, are under construction or soon to be built in the group's factories.
One hour after opening, Fincantieri's share on the Stock Exchange gained 4,6%, to 1,041 euros.
