Commercial Shipbuilding Trade Mission to Spain

The Department for Business & Trade is seeking expressions of interest from the UK maritime industry to participate in an outward mission to Madrid with local commercial shipyards.

The recent acquisition of Harland and Wolff by the Spanish state-owned Navantia kickstarted a new era of collaboration between the two countries’ maritime industries, to jointly tackle opportunities both in their domestic markets and internationally. DBT works hand-in-hand with Navantia to materialise these opportunities for the benefit of the British naval industry.

Navantia, however, is not the only shipbuilder in Spain that offers opportunities. In this mission we will work with three privately-owned shipyards capable of building high value-add, complex design vessels: Zamakona, Gondán and Metalships & Docks. They are all based along Spain’s northern coast and have an extensive international order book.

These shipyards will select the companies with the highest potential among those that express an interest in participating. The successful firms will be given the opportunity to meet the yards on a 1-to-1 basis and will hear a case study about a Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) contract to build a technically advanced buoy tender vessel with significant UK participation.

They will also hear about UK Export Finance’s (UKEF) offer to support Spanish shipyards in financially risky markets in exchange for British supply chain participation, which will hopefully trigger new opportunities for collaboration internationally.

The conference will also feature a session on trade & customs processes to help address concerns about exporting to Spain and beyond by an independent specialist in international trade, Export Unlocked.

Mission Date: 10 April 2025

Location: British Embassy Madrid

Costs & Travel:

• There is no cost to register for this activity.
• However, mission delegates need to cover their own travel and subsistence costs. 
• Please do not commit to flights and hotels until registration is confirmed upon selection by the participating shipyards.

Registration & Eligibility:

• The event is open to all UK registered companies, with a maximum of 1 delegate per company.
• • Applications open until 28 February.
• If you are interested in joining the mission, please email the Application Form to isaac.morillas(at)fcdo.gov.uk

Programme

Day 1 - 9th April

Delegates arrive in Madrid.

2030:-23:00 Welcome Dinner (venue and details tbc)

Day 2 - 10th April

9am to 1:30pm (approximately)

Presentations (times tbc): 

- UK National Shipbuilding Strategy  

- UKEF services - Case study (NLB)

- Trade procedures (Export Unlocked)

1 to 1 meetings with shipyards as per shipyards’ selection (individual schedules tbc)

End of programme

Follow this link to complete the registration form