History
MTG-DOLPHIN PLC was established in January 1991 as the first private ship repair company in Bulgaria.
During the last 15 years, due to the joint efforts of management, foremen and workers, the company has managed to build new ship repair and ship building yard.
Company development could be divided into three main stages:
1. STAGE ONE - 1991-1995
The company performed class and intermediate repairs of ships belonging to Navibulgar (Bulgarian state owned fleet), under the supervision of the Bulgarian Register of Shipping.
The average number of persons employed with the company was 250.
During the first years of its existence the company established itself with its new organization of work that guaranteed rapid and quality repairs.
2. STAGE TWO-1995-2000
Within that period, despite the unfavorable investment conditions in the country, with great efforts were build the production facilities and infrastructure of the so called Area 1 of the Yard including: steel works hall, pipe workshop, machining workshop, electrical workshop and mechanical workshop, on 25 000 sq.m. area, great part of which reclaimed from Varna Lake.
The quayside was extended up to 180 meters to allow berthing and repair of bigger ships.
Over 20 cranes of 5 to 25 t lifting capacity were bought to serve the workshops and the quayside. A compressor station, supplying more than 300 m3/min of compressed air and oxygen stations were built.
In 1998 the company bought from Kherson a dock under construction with lifting capacity of 18'000 t. The same was completed for only 6 months, and was commissioned in operation on 27 January 1999. Dock No.1 of the company still remains the biggest floating dock in Bulgaria for docking of ships with DWT up to 50 000t.
From January 1999 to December 2005 in this dock were repaired more then 250 ships from all over the world.
In 1999 the company defended before the Lloyd Register Quality Assurance a quality management system ISO 9001:2000 with which she became one of the first shipyards in Bulgaria having such a system.
The average number of employees reached 450.
3. STAGE THREE - from 2000 until now
This is the time the company has gained strong positions on the international market.
Within that period over 220 ships were repaired, whereas the proportion of foreign to Bulgarian ships changed, and the company turned mainly to work with foreign customers: presently 80-85 % are foreign clients, and only 15-20 % are Bulgarian companies.
Funds were invested for the purchase of modern equipment for welding, blasting and painting, metal processing, non-destructive testing facilities, etc.
In 2004, having appraised the necessity of new specialists, the company opened a training center to the yard, wherein over a hundred young specialists with prospects were trained within a period of one year and a half, and managed successfully to integrate themselves into the working process. The same year were opened the accommodation facilities of the yard for 68 students/workers, and flats for 12 families - the first in the field of shipbuilding and ship repair in Bulgaria since 1989.
The average number of people employed is already 670.
In 2005 MTG-Dolphin PLC further developed itself, making new investments for:
Purchase of a land of 53 000 sq.m. area on the side of Varna Lake next to the Yard, and started the building of Area 2 of the Yard designed mainly for shipbuilding;
Building of an outfitting quay 170 m long which is already finished;
Building of a support infrastructure for shipbuilding;
Purchase of a suitable floating dock for assembly and launching of ships under construction;
