After addressing the topics of “refit as an industry” and “refit and sustainability”, Alfonso Postorino returns to the subject of large yacht refit, analysing how the contribution of artisanal companies represents one of the structural elements of the Italian production model. A leading expert in the sector and in the yacht industry, he highlights how the balance between industrial organisation and specialised manual skills continues to be a determining factor for the quality, flexibility and efficiency of the supply chain. Below is his contribution.
The Italian industry of large yacht construction and refit lives and thrives thanks to a hybrid “industrial-artisanal” approach. According to the Treccani dictionary, an artisan is “one who carries out an activity (also artistic) for the production (or repair) of goods, through their own manual work and that of a limited number of workers, without mass production.”
In Italy, even in the most structured companies producing series or semi-custom boats, the presence of artisans with specific skills is essential. This includes, for example, interior installers, upholsterers, but also electricians and mechanics. These are often artisans heading sole proprietorships or very small firms that work under contract for shipyards, whether for new builds or refit. This is particularly true in the refit sector. Due to the strong seasonality of this business, refit yards are forced to maintain lean structures, with few direct employees, and rely heavily on external artisanal companies when needed. This also makes it possible to select, each time, the most qualified company for a specific job, to the benefit of both efficiency and quality. In some cases, the relationship between yard and artisanal company becomes particularly close, and the artisan ends up working almost exclusively for the same yard on a continuous basis. A relationship of mutual trust is established, facilitating the phases of quotation, execution and quality control, again to the benefit of efficiency.
Many refit yards (as well as new build yards) consistently rely on the same artisanal firms for highly specialised work such as fairing and painting exteriors or installing onboard electrical systems. It is a successful model that allows great flexibility in responding to fluctuations in demand. Sometimes, the same artisanal firm may in turn subcontract certain activities to cope with particularly demanding jobs or peaks in workload.
However, it is clear that it is not always “plain sailing”. The assignment of multiple contracts by shipyards to specialised artisanal firms requires careful planning and effective control.
The role of the Project Manager or Site Manager becomes crucial, as they must simultaneously manage yard personnel and various subcontracted companies, ensuring that there are no interferences onboard.
There is also an issue of reliability. Artisanal firms are often small businesses with very limited financial capacity and a weak entrepreneurial culture. It may happen that they fail to show up in pursuit of more immediate gains or, conversely, that they are financially squeezed by the strength of the commissioning shipyard.
The Italian nautical sector employs over 28,000 direct workers, while external personnel (artisans or employees of artisanal firms) exceed 4,000 units (source: La Nautica in Cifre 2024). On average, external workers operate within shipyards for about nine months, and more than half are employed for over eleven months per year.
As always, it is necessary to act with common sense, especially on the part of the commissioning yard, which must in a way accompany the artisanal company along its path and help it overcome any difficulties. Being able to build a network of subcontracted artisanal firms is a capability that all construction and refit yards greatly need. Only the best succeed in doing so.
The success of this business model lies in the ability of artisanal firms to offer highly specialised skills that are required by a large number of construction and refit yards, but which these yards can hardly maintain internally due to their high level of specialisation. To better understand, consider an example: a medium-sized refit yard only occasionally needs to intervene on teak decks. It would make little sense to employ a dedicated team of teak specialists for this purpose. It is far more efficient to call, when needed, an artisanal company specialised exclusively in teak decks, obtain a lump-sum quotation, add the yard’s own mark-up to cover overheads, and then present the final offer to the client. In this way, costs are reduced for both the yard and the client, while the entrepreneurial risk remains with the artisanal firm, which, due to its specialised expertise, is the most qualified party.
Unfortunately, artisanal professions have recently become less attractive to younger generations. Vocational schools have evolved compared to a few decades ago, responding to a demand for more technical and less craft-oriented education. The result is that it is increasingly difficult for young people to approach artisanal professions, especially demanding ones such as welding, lamination or bodywork. Artisanal firms are therefore forced to compensate by training future artisans directly through on-the-job mentoring alongside more experienced workers. In Italy, it is now well established that certain professions, particularly less qualified ones, are carried out almost exclusively by foreign workers. Indeed, it can be said that without the workforce provided by immigrants, Italian shipyards—both new build and refit—would be forced to halt their activities.
All of the above clearly shows that a new construction or refit yard can only succeed if it is located in a geographical area where a network of artisanal companies with the appropriate know-how already exists. Sometimes new initiatives are announced in areas lacking a shipbuilding tradition, but these all start with a significant handicap. With sufficient capital, infrastructure can be built almost anywhere, but personnel—the true asset of many businesses—is not always readily available. Moreover, building a yacht or carrying out a refit requires more than just a shipbuilding tradition; it also demands an awareness of the extremely high quality standards required. Refitting a yacht is not the same as repairing a gas carrier.
This is why Italy and the Netherlands have a significant competitive advantage over countries such as Croatia, Greece and Turkey. However, this advantage is not insurmountable. It will take time, but eventually the “know-how” will develop in these countries as well.
Artisanal know-how is not an immutable genetic heritage, but rather the result of an ecosystem made up of training, field experience, interaction between companies and the intergenerational transmission of skills. Where there is a growing and continuous demand for quality services, an offer capable of meeting it inevitably develops. New operators enter the market, learn by working alongside more experienced professionals, attract skilled labour from abroad and, over time, build their own technical tradition.
To maintain a competitive advantage, therefore, it is not sufficient to rely on history or acquired reputation. Continuous investment in professional training is required, as well as strengthening the dialogue between technical schools and companies, enhancing the social value of artisanal professions and creating career paths that are also attractive from an economic standpoint. Otherwise, there is a risk that the current leadership will be gradually eroded, not so much by weaker entrepreneurial capacity, but by a structural lack of skills.
In this context, technological innovation also plays a fundamental role. The introduction of digital design tools, advanced project management systems, more efficient production technologies and innovative materials does not replace the artisan, but enhances their capabilities. The balance between skilled manual work and advanced technology represents the true hallmark of the Italian “industrial-artisanal” model. The quality of a large yacht is the result of the harmonious integration of engineering design, controlled industrial processes and highly specialised artisanal work.
Another key element is the development of stable and collaborative relationships throughout the supply chain. Shipyards and artisanal firms cannot limit themselves to a purely transactional relationship based on price. Instead, they must share standards, quality objectives, timelines and responsibilities. Only in this way can a resilient system be created, capable of addressing market fluctuations and the growing demand for customisation from owners.
Ultimately, the success of the Italian large yacht construction and refit industry does not lie solely in the production capacity of individual shipyards, but in the strength of the entire territorial ecosystem: a widespread network of specialised skills, a deeply rooted culture of quality and an artisanal tradition that interacts with industry. Preserving and strengthening this ecosystem means investing not only in infrastructure and capital, but above all in people.
The sector remains one of the few Italian manufacturing industries capable of combining high added value, strong export orientation, skilled labour and the ability to generate a supply chain. For micro and small enterprises, this primarily means quality, customisation, refit and bespoke outfitting. These activities safeguard skills ranging from carpentry to composites, from onboard systems to painting, through to precision mechanics and technical furnishing. They represent the true competitive value.
However, to consolidate this trend, three key levers are needed: technical training and generational renewal, adequate infrastructure, and administrative simplification with clear timelines for permits, concessions and environmental compliance.
Because, ultimately, a successful yacht is not just a complex industrial product: it is the tangible result of thousands of hours of specialised work, skilled hands and a body of knowledge that, however it evolves over time, remains profoundly human.
Alfonso Postorino