| Type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Shipbuilding Marine engineering |
| Genre | Shipyard services |
| Predecessor | Cammell Laird |
| Founded | Main Wharf Road, Gibraltar Dockyard, Gibraltar (1904) |
| Founder(s) | Royal Navy |
| Headquarters | Main Wharf Road, Gibraltar Dockyard, Gibraltar |
| Area served | Gibraltar |
| Key people | Joseph Corvelli (CEO) Richard Beards Commercial Director (President) |
| Services | Ship repair |
| Website | Gibdock.com |
Gibdock is a shipyard in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar.
Contents |
The Royal Navy Dockyard in Gibraltar was built at the end of the 19th century; three large Graving docks to be known as docks Number 1, 2 and 3 were built.
Number 3 dock was the first to open in 1904 and was named King Edward VII, Queen Alexandra named Number 2 dock after herself, and the largest, Number 1 dock, was called the Prince and Princess of Wales dock, having been named by their Royal Highnesses, subsequently King George V and Queen Mary.
The dockyard was used extensively by the Royal Navy, docking many of the Navy’s most prestigious ships. In the early 1980s a decision by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence to cut back the Royal Navy surface fleet meant that the dockyard was no longer financially viable.
In 1982 the dockyard passed into the hands of the UK ship repair and conversion company, A&P Group. A government grant and a prospect of lucrative Royal Fleet Auxiliary refit contracts did not help A&P Group however and they passed the yard into the hands of the Government of Gibraltar.
A company was set up to run the yard and it became known as Gibraltar Ship Repair. In the early 1990s the dockyard was taken over by Norway-based engineering and construction services company, Kværner, who ran the yard until 1996, the yard then closed for a period of approximately 18 months.
In 1997 the British shipbuilding company Cammell Laird based in Merseyside, were looking to expand their operations outside the UK and in early 1998 a management team arrived at Gibraltar. The yard was reopened and the first ship docked within a few weeks. The dockyard's future was again put at risk when in early 2001 Cammell Laird Group PLC ran into difficulties, which eventually led to its closure.
When it became inevitable that Cammell Laird Group PLC was to close, senior management in Gibraltar, with the backing of the Government of Gibraltar, were successful in their quest to source the necessary financial assistance to keep the company's Gibraltar operations running.
During the first quarter of 2006, Cammell Laird Group was sold in its entirety to private investors. The new owner's intention was to continue with the existing business. The company continued to trade as Cammell Laird Gibraltar Ltd until 7 December 2009 when it was renamed Gibdock following the sale of the rights in the historic brand to Northwestern Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders in the UK for an undisclosed sum.[1]
Gibdock currently remains a ship repair and conversion facility, providing repair services to all sectors of the maritime industry.