The Mangalia shipyard, on the coast Romanian Black Sea company, passes to Rheinmetall. Today CITR, the liquidator judicial officer responsible for the insolvency proceedings of the shipyard, Rheinmetall Real Estate Romania, a company Romanian real estate company of the German group, has been awarded the the industrial complex of Damen Shipyards Mangalia for auction 138 million euros.

The transaction concludes a sale procedure that had already seen four unsuccessful attempts. In previous auctions the reference value had been set at €184 million and the final price is therefore about 25% lower than valuation. According to CITR, the transaction opens up the possibility of to resume production activities in one of the main Romanian industrial sites.

Damen Shipyards Mangalia had joined in insolvency proceedings on 19 June 2024, at the request of the Dutch parent company Damen Holding. The crisis led to the bankruptcy and the dismissal of almost a thousand workers.

The project to relaunch the Romanian shipyard is part of the in Rheinmetall's expansion strategy in the naval sector. The German Group, mainly active in the production of military vehicles, has strengthened its presence in the shipbuilding through the Naval Systems division, developed after the acquisition of the NVL shipyards from the Lürssen group. Last May Rheinmetall had announced that it was evaluating, in collaboration with with the shipping and logistics group Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), an investment in Mangalia to transform the site into a hub production with dual use, civil and military. The plan envisaged the recovery of existing activities, the modernization of the infrastructure and the creation of new capacities productive activities. With the award of the construction site in favour of Rheinmetall Real Estate Romania, MSC's possible operational role will obviously have to be evaluated on the basis of the subsequent agreements.

A decisive element of the project to relaunch the Mangalia construction site is the procurement program Romanian military funded through SAFE (Security Action for Europe), the European Union's instrument aimed at supporting investments in defence. On 2 June, Rheinmetall had announced the signing of contracts with Romania for a value €5.7 billion, including vehicles from combat, air defense systems, ammunition and units naval sector. For the naval sector, the program includes two offshore patrol vessels and two support units for operations underwater, for a total of four ships.

The Bucharest government welcomed the acquisition, underlining that the relaunch of the shipyard is linked to the commitments made in the framework of the SAFE negotiations. The aim is to use investments in defence also to rebuild industrial skills, creating employment and developing a supply chain national military shipbuilding.