Vigo has once again witnessed a high-precision logistical operation that highlights the excellent momentum of shipbuilding and heavy industry in southern Galicia. Astilleros San Enrique, a company integrated into the Marina Meridional group, has successfully completed the shipment of 391 tons of steel structures designated for the international BalWin2 project, developed for Dragados Offshore. This loading operation, which extended over several days on the Vigo slipways, represents a major operational achievement for the bay of Vigo and reinforces the transition of local facilities toward large-scale global offshore renewable energy projects.
The dispatched cargo includes two massive platforms measuring forty meters in length and eight meters in width, which will form a single eighty-meter assembly upon final integration, alongside tubular blocks weighing 80 tons each. The complex positioning maneuver onto the vessel’s deck tested the high specialization of Vigo’s technical personnel in an engineering challenge that consolidates the shipyard’s role in the manufacturing of substations and structures for offshore wind energy. With this new dispatch, the facility has now delivered nearly six hundred tons under a framework contract that contemplates 1,800 tons through its conclusion in early 2027.
Creation of specialized employment and a decisive boost to the auxiliary industry
The economic dimension of this milestone translates into a direct impact on the labor market of the city and its surrounding region. The intensity of the welding, assembly, and logistics work associated with BalWin2 has allowed the shipyard to surpass 220 direct workers and generate over 600 indirect jobs through auxiliary companies in Vigo’s metallurgical sector. The roadmap outlined by management foresees maintaining this expansion cycle in successive manufacturing phases, estimating a direct workforce of 300 professionals along the estuary’s slipways over the coming months.
This progression continues the strategic shift initiated by the company with the predecessor project BalWin1, in which the Vigo plant participated in the construction of energy substations in collaboration with Siemens. Diversification into the offshore wind market, backed by rigorous international quality certifications in welding and metallic structures, positions Vigo as a key operational hub for European decarbonization. The alliance between Astilleros San Enrique and the local network of suppliers demonstrates the competitive capacity of the Vigo estuary to execute highly complex technical projects and remain a benchmark industrial engine in the Atlantic.
