Sud Moteurs is a family business from Marseille which will be among the first ones to join the Yachting Village in the second quarter of 2020. A new challenge for this SME of 185 employees that will reinforce its expertise in repair and maintenance of propulsions lines of megayachts. Interview with Jeremy Santiago, Business Manager who will be in charge of the establishment in La Ciotat.
Mr. Santiago, can you briefly describe your activity ?
Our company has been founded in 1994 in Marseille, continuing a family tradition that goes back to decades ! This long history translates into a long expertise. « Sud Moteurs » provides for the maintenance and repair of all the components involved in the propulsion line, including diesel engines, shaft lines and gearboxes. It happens that we have to manufacture bespoke mechanical parts in our workshop when they are no longer produced, which is not seldom when you deal with old boats for example. Our expertise covers any kinds of boats from merchant ships, naval vessels to fishing boats (medium-speed engines). We also deal with onboard power generators. The company currently employs 65 persons in its Marseille’ headquarters, divided between administration, engineering and workshop. Our subsidiaries in Toulon, Brest, Martinique and Reunion have a total of 85 employees (excluding fixed-term contract).
Why do you open a new establishment in La Ciotat ?
La Ciotat Shipyards is extremely dynamic and fast-growing place. The yards receive an increasing number of super and megayachts and tend to become a magnet in Mediterranean. We wanted to be part of this dynamic. We will bring our bespoke know-how to local shipyards in the field of maintenance of superyachts and megayachts. We will also play on the complementary with our workshops in Marseille, where we have all equipment needed to do the machining or even re-manufacture some components if necessary.
What is your ambition ?
The superyacht maintenance market is mostly lead by foreign manufacturers or service companies. We are a 100% French provider with high attention to quality and high expertise in our sector and we do already have clients in the yachting sector, such as the M/Y Ponant in Marseille. Our goal is to continue our legacy that stretches back to the 19th century, and to improve the quality of our services in relation with other companies based in La Ciotat.
At the opening, there will only be 3 or 4 permanent employees in La Ciotat, working with the support of our Marseille’ team. On a longer perspective, we expect to develop our workforce locally, with a special attention to onsite training.
