Interview with Navantia UK’s CEO Donata Martinez
Navantia Shiprepairs offers more locations and increased flexibility
Navantia UK completed its acquisition of Harland & Wolff’s facilities in Belfast (seen here), Appledore, Methil and Arnish in January 2025
Donata Martinez has been CEO of Navantia UK since May this year. He was previously Chief Technology and Strategy Officer at Navantia, SA for a year. Before that he served as Systems, Services, Technology and Digital VP and Chief Technology Officer. He also previously worked at Navantia Australia and Navantia in Spain, where he had various roles after joining the company in December 2005.
Martinez holds an MBA from the University of Navarra, a PDD Management from Escuela Organización Industrial and an MSc in Naval Architecture from Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.
Donata Martinez, CEO of Navantia UK
Q. What was the key rationale behind the acquisition of Harland & Wolff?
A. The acquisition ensures the continuation of the Fleet Solid Support (FSS) programme, comprising three ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary to support the UK Carrier Strike Group, and aligns with Navantia’s group growth strategy.
These FSS vessels will be built at the Belfast and Appledore facilities alongside Navantia’s facilities in Spain, and integrated and delivered at Harland & Wolff (Belfast). Using Navantia’s expertise, we are aiming to create one of UK’s most advanced shipyards, grow productivity and develop sustainable manufacturing processes.
Q. Do you plan to still run the yards in Northern Ireland (Belfast), England (Appledore) and Scotland (Methil and Arnish) as individual entities, or do you plan to integrate them fully within Navantia?
A. Navantia UK will operate all four yards as a single legal entity. Each yard plays a vital role in Britain’s industrial renewal and will benefit from the investment and modernisation plan that Navantia UK has already initiated.
Q. Is your main interest in the FSS shipbuilding programme for the UK’s Ministry of Defence, or is Navantia interested in the ship repair and upgrades parts of the business?
A. Navantia already has a ship repair division in Spain which, apart from providing all maintenance, repair, docking and upgrade services required by the Spanish Navy and other navies with whom Navantia has agreements, is also focussed on the repair, docking, upgrade, conversion and revitalisation works of commercial vessels of all types, although with specialised lines of business where it is already a key global reference in markets such as LNGs and O&G, luxury cruiseships and megayachts.
On the other hand, Navantia UK also has shipyards with a long tradition in repair, upgrade, and conversion works of both military and commercial vessels, which will continue and expand their traditional ship repair work in coordination with and with full support from Navantia’s ship repair division. Therefore, Navantia Shiprepairs will now offer a wider option of geographical locations and increased flexibility to some of its existing clients, especially those operating in the UK, Ireland and North Sea area.
The acquisition of H&W and other UK yards will allow Navantia Shiprepairs to offer a wider option of geographical locations
Q. What about the green energy part of the business?
A. Navantia UK is vital to Britain’s energy security. The UK aims to generate 50 gigawatts of electricity from offshore wind by 2030 (about a third of overall energy needs). Navantia UK’s Scottish facilities (Methil and Arnish) can be crucial in achieving this goal.
Navantia Seanergies is an international global partner in the green energy sector with extensive experience in offshore wind industry and hydrogen technologies.
We are investing in our Scottish facilities at Methil and Arnish to transform them into hubs of excellence for renewable energy manufacturing. Both facilities are ideally located for offshore energy – including deep-sea access and quayside fabrication halls.
The future for Navantia UK
Q. Do you have any plans to expand the ship repair and conversion part of the business?
A. As commented earlier, to complement Navantia UK’s other areas of activity in shipbuilding and green energies, the ship repair and conversion activity will be expanded through the upgrade of existing facilities, the enhancement of current technical and human resources, and the commercial support of the group’s ship repair division. This has a prominent position in the international military and commercial ship repair markets and is renowned as a world reference in its core segments of specialisation
Q. Do you have any plans for major changes to the yards?
A. We are introducing new technologies to enhance all four yards – including lifting cranes, robotic plasma cutting systems and automated quality control processes. We are fostering industry innovation and workforce development. New state-of-the-art facilities and equipment are being installed in Belfast and a new state-of-the-art plasma cutter at Appledore is replacing legacy equipment, increasing accuracy, speed and complexity in steel cutting – critical for delivering high-quality naval components on time and at scale. On top of the physical investments, Navantia UK is deploying Navantia’s digital systems to run all business processes. These systems are the fruit of Navantia’s digital transformation strategy.
Q. How do you see the future for ship repair in the region?
A.The strategic geographical location of the Navantia UK shipyards in Belfast and Appledore, with such a long naval tradition and experience, and the current high demand for docking and repairs from international shipowners and operators, should contribute to boosting the ship repair activity in the region.