Trade union members at Damen Shipyards Mangalia (DSMa) organised a protest on January 28 following the company's decision to lay off 263 of a total of some 1,200 employees.

The Free Navalist Union called on president Klaus Iohannis to urgently intervene to resolve the dramatic situation of the Mangalia Shipyard, which is facing major financial difficulties and a drastic decrease in workload, Economedia.ro reported.

The company intends to carry out collective redundancies. The notification regarding the collective redundancies was sent to the employment agencies ITM Constanța and AJOFM Constanța on January 14, 2025.

The unionists argue that the shipyard represents a strategic objective of national interest, in the context of the armed conflict between Ukraine and the Russian Federation, which affects regional security. This shipyard could become an essential center for the maintenance, modernization, and repair of military ships of the Romanian Naval Forces and NATO, contributing significantly to national defense, they said.

Owned 51% by the Romanian state, through the Ministry of Economy, and 49% by the Dutch company Damen, the Mangalia shipyard was flooded last spring with a wave of debt recovery requests worth hundreds of millions of euros. Most of them are from companies in the Damen Group.

On June 19, the Constanta Court opened the insolvency procedure of the Damen Mangalia company, after the Dutch group Damen filed for bankruptcy of the shipyard. The insolvency house CITR, Bucharest branch, was appointed as the judicial administrator.

In May, the Dutch group Damen filed for bankruptcy of the Mangalia shipyard, in which it has a 49% stake, according to a file filed with the Constanta Court.

Since June, employees have been on technical unemployment, because the shipyard has run out of projects in progress.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Inquam Photos/Daniel Stoenciu)