West Sea - Viana Shipyard

West Sea - Viana Shipyard builds, repairs and converts ships at Viana do Castelo in northern Portugal, on a site of 250,000 square metres. Annual steel throughput is 20,000 tonnes and the heaviest single lift is 180 tonnes. The yard holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certification. There are four building and docking positions: two dry docks, a construction platform and the outfitting basin. Dry dock 1 and the construction platform are each served by two 100-tonne, two 50-tonne and two 15-tonne cranes, dry dock 2 by two 50-tonne and one 10-tonne crane, and the outfitting basin by a 60-tonne crane. Production is spread over dedicated shops: 2,400 square metres for plate and profile cutting, a 3,300 square metre panel line, 5,000 square metres of light and heavy plate forming, 8,000 square metres for block fabrication and assembly, a 3,000 square metre machine shop, a 2,900 square metre pipe shop and a 7,300 square metre steel stockyard. Newbuilding output runs to polar expedition ships, river cruise vessels, dredgers and naval patrol ships. The polar expedition vessel World Explorer was built here; the first of a series of ocean patrol vessels has been delivered to the Portuguese Navy with a further six under contract; and a luxury cruise ship worth about 100 million euros is being built in full at Viana do Castelo for the Japanese company Ryobi, for delivery planned in 2027. Conversion is a line of its own, weighted towards fuel changes. The Sicilia was the first vessel converted here to run on liquefied natural gas, a job that included installing a tank weighing 160 tonnes, and a third LNG conversion has since been completed for Balearia. Repair work is taken on general cargo ships, gas carriers, chemical tankers, refrigerated cargo vessels, container ships, dredgers, offshore support vessels and tugs, using the same cutting, forming, piping and machining shops as newbuilding.