Douglas Prothero, CEO of The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection and executive chairman of the Vigo-based shipyard Hijos de J. Barreras, expressed the company's intention to build two more ships at the Galician shipyard. Before that, however, inherited problems must be resolved, including over €15 million in debt to the shipyard's suppliers and an ongoing dispute with Havila that left two ships half-built and €8.2 million in unpaid bills.
The shipyard is looking for a buyer for the two half-finished ships for Havila, but if it fails to find one, it will scrap the fifteen assembled blocks to free up the slipway and begin construction of the 1706 (Ritz-Carlton's second ship) by the end of the year. The company has even registered the names with the EU Patent and Trademark Office: Ilma and Luminaria, according to Faro de Vigo.
Prothero himself defends the future plan, stating that "the restructuring effort we've undertaken at the shipyard would be pointless for just one vessel." If successful, the contract for the two new ships would amount to more than 500 million euros, making it the largest deal in the history of Spain's private shipbuilding industry.
But the most important thing is that the Evrima is completed on schedule and makes its maiden voyage on April 22, 2021 as planned.
