Croatian Shipyard to Start ‘Cable Enterprise’ Conversion Soon, Lacks Skilled Workforce

Viktor Lenac Shipyard, specialised in ship repair and conversions, is preparing for the conversion work on Prysmian’s ‘Cable Enterprise’ cable laying barge, which will arrive at the shipyard in Rijeka, Croatia in the following days – a month earlier than scheduled.

The conversion will transform the ‘Cable Enterprise’ from a moored cable laying barge into a DP2 cable laying barge able to use its own propulsion within a work site. This will make the vessel fully geared for offshore wind farm interconnections.

However, Viktor Lenac has faced workforce shortage. Robert Škifić, President of Viktor Lenac’s Management Board, told Croatian media that the shipyard is forced to look for workforce in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, as countries that are not part of EU can offer skilled workforce at lower rates, which consequently allows the shipyard to be more competitive on the market.

The work on the ‘Cable Enterprise’ is worth around EUR 20 million, so Viktor Lenac has begun with the preparations a few months ago to make sure that the job will be done right.

The conversion of the cable laying barge is scheduled to be completed by mid-February 2015.