Can European shipbuilding survive?

摘要

Disclosure by Italy's giant Fincantieri Group in September that it was looking at plans to shut both its Castellammare and Riva Trigoso yards and lay off nearly 2,500 workers underlined the crisis facing European shipbuilders as contracts for new ships placed prior to the current economic downturn were completed and very few new orders received. Italian labour unions quickly took Fincantieri to task for its proposal, and the Italian government stepped in to promise state-backed commercial and military contracts to keep the yards open, but Europe still faces a drastic restructuring of its shipbuilding base, particularly in the face of unrelenting pricing pressure from China, South Korea and Japan.