ASTILLERO PUERTO DE BALBOA (ASTIBAL)

Astillero Puerto de Balboa, known as ASTIBAL and branded MEC Shipyards Balboa, is a ship repair yard at Balboa Ancon, at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal. The main dock was built more than a century ago to repair and maintain vessels using the canal; after rehabilitation and upgrading the yard became fully operative in May 2023. It belongs to Alimia Enterprises Company Ltd, the Alimia Shipyards Group, which also owns ASTICAN in the Canary Islands and ASTANDER on the Bay of Biscay. Docking is in three graving docks, the largest of them Panamax capable, and two piers serve the yard. Workshops cover approximately 6,500 square metres and were refurbished under the same programme, machining capacity is a 3.5-metre swing for workpieces of up to 30 tonnes, and there is a pump room, a multipurpose warehouse and open and roofed storage. Offices are available for superintendents and project teams. The yard carries out all types of ship repair, including underwater work, hull treatment and tank preservation, engine, electrical and pipework repair, steel renewal, tail shaft survey and propeller work, and accommodation refurbishment. Conversion is offered across the group. There is no newbuilding.