Gin acquires submarine barge for ship repairs

Genova industrie navali (Gin) takes a step towards strengthening and expanding its activities in the shipbuilding and industrial plant engineering sector. Through the newly established (and wholly owned subsidiary) Gin Maritime Operations, the group consisting of T Mariotti and San Giorgio del Porto acquired the submarine barge Arcalupa, whose technical and commercial management will be entrusted to the ship management company K-Ships.

The submersible barge, explain Gin's engineers, represents an innovation in the field of maritime operations, being equipped with a dual functionality that allows it to operate both as a means of transport and as a platform for launching and hauling mega-structures from port quays and waterfront construction sites. Certified to transport exceptional loads, Arcalupa boasts a load capacity of 14 thousand tonnes and a deck capacity of 30 tonnes per square metre.

Built in 2020 in the Cimolai factories, the barge boasts exceptional dimensions, about 60% more than the standard ones, with a weight of 3,800 tonnes (which reaches 4,200 tonnes with the flotation towers), 127.2 metres in length, 31.5 metres in width and 6.5 metres in height; features that give the structure flexibility and multifunctionality. Thanks to the installation of the flotation towers, moreover, it is possible to submerge the deck up to 6.5 metres with a maximum draught of 13 metres, transforming it into a floating dock for the launching of artefacts of up to 9,800 tonnes.

"The acquisition of Arcalupa," says Aldo Negri, President of Gin Maritime Operations, "not only represents the introduction of a strategic asset to the portfolio of the Genoa Shipbuilding Group, but also marks a significant step forward in our development vision, allowing us to open up new avenues in the field of maritime-industrial operations and engineering at the service of logistics.

Gin is a holding company established in 2008 from the merger of the two historic Genoese shipyards T Mariotti and San Giorgio del Porto, both founded in 1928. Today the group is one of the most important players in shipbuilding and ship repair in the Mediterranean area and among the main private shipbuilding players in Italy.