Italian company Palumbo, which runs two shipyards in Naples and Messina, was yesterday named as preferred bidder for the sale of the Cospicua ship repair yard.

The government said it had accepted a recommednation by the Privatisation Unit to initiate talks with Palumbo for the purchase of the ship repair facility.

Palumbo has been involved in ship repair and ship conversion since 1967. It has two floating docks in Naples and a 70,000 tonne drydock in Messina. The docks it operates pale into insignificance when compared to the five docks it will have in Malta if the privatisation goes ahead. Suffice to say that number six dock is a 300,000 tonne facility that can cater for super tankers.

The privatisation process has seen the facilities of Malta Shipyards divided into four units: the ship repair yard in Cospicua, the former Marsa shipbuilding yard, the super yachts facility in Cospicua and Manoel Island Yacht Yard.

Preferred bidders had already been selected for the Marsa yard and the Manoel Island facility at the beginning of summer.