Oltenita, a city-port on the left bank of the Danube, had a long history of ship building, which started 60 years ago. While the former shipyard lies in ruins, a private company carries on the tradition and builds luxury yachts.
Before the demise of communism, the old shipyard employed 5,000 people. Now, it is on the verge of collapse: the last salaries were paid in May, and the electric power was cut around that time too.
The skills for ship building, however, are alive.
The new company which now makes luxury yachts was founded in 1998 by Karel Boersma, a Dutch. Stentor Maritime grew steadily in size, having sold to date some 70 luxury boats.
"We build an average of seven boats a year," explains Stefan Negoita, the Romanian administrator of the company. "These boats are delicate things; they demand a lot of skilled work and no mistakes. Our clients are extremely demanding, and start visiting the shipyard while the boat is being built. For instance, to check the quality of the paint coat they test if they can read the newspaper in the light reflected by it," explains Negoita.
When asked about the structure of the company, he says that people are more like family than keeping to their official positions. Even the owner, when he visits the shipyard, workers along his employees, Negoita said.
The company has its clientsâ base in Western Europe, and it will be able to take new orders only in 2008; until then, it is going to work at full capacity for the existing orders.
The company cannot expand, Negoita explains, because it has no workers pool from which to select new employees, in spite of the high unemployment figures in the city.
"I may employ responsible and capable people only, because the standards of performance on the job are very high. No youngster knocks at our door, showing interest that he wants to learn the
