By bringing all of its entities under a single brand, Amico Marine, the Genoa-based Amico & Co group has just put a name to a trend that has been reshaping the sector for years: the consolidation of refit yards. Behind the branding exercise lies a structural shift that directly concerns anyone planning a major refit — and one that deserves more than a cosmetic reading.
Why yards are merging
The logic is industrial first. Yachts keep growing: a yard that wants to stay relevant must be able to take ever longer, taller and heavier units, and to work on several at once. Amico Marine now gathers under one roof the refit of very large units (Amico & Co and Amico Loano), the Gatti yard for boats and tenders up to 30 metres, the Waterfront Marina and its 26 berths for yachts up to 120 metres, and the Acier-Sarimi metalwork shops. On paper, the group can host up to 35 yachts ashore or alongside at once, with four dry-docks up to 170 metres, 320- and 835-tonne travel lifts, and more than 500 metres of linear quay.
The other driver is commercial. A major refit mobilises dozens of trades — paint, metalwork, mechanical, electronics, joinery, upholstery. By pulling them under a single brand, the yard now sells a single point of contact: one contractual counterparty, one chain of responsibility, internal coordination rather than the patchwork of subcontractors the owner used to arbitrate alone.
When infrastructure funds enter the dry dock
Amico is not an isolated case: consolidation runs the length of the Mediterranean, and it is now driven by financial capital. In the summer of 2025, the US group Safe Harbor — the world’s largest marina network, taken over by Blackstone Infrastructure for $5.65 billion months earlier — acquired Monaco Marine outright. In a single move, one of the planet’s largest asset managers took control of nine refit sites from Monaco to La Ciotat, founded in 1995 by Michel Ducros, employing more than 200 people for an estimated turnover of around €100 million and handling over 3,000 projects a year. It was Safe Harbor’s first European foothold; it will probably not be its last.
The same dynamic is playing out further east. In March 2026, the Luxembourg fund Squircle Capital took its stake in MB92 — the world’s largest superyacht refit group (Barcelona, La Ciotat) — to 100%, completing a buyout begun in 2019. Along the way MB92 absorbed the painting specialist Pinmar and its associated supply business — that is, the most expensive and time-critical trade of any major refit. The logic is everywhere the same: deep-water quay is scarce and almost impossible to replicate, and refit demand is recurring — class rules force a major survey every five years. For an infrastructure fund, that is an asset as defensive as an airport or a toll road.
For the owner, the family office or the captain, the direction of travel is clear: behind the dry dock, the counterparty is no longer the founder of an independent yard but a financial shareholder who thinks in terms of yield, occupancy and pricing power. Good slots for large units now have to be booked twelve to twenty-four months ahead, and the number of genuinely independent players shrinks season after season.
What consolidation changes for owners
For anyone managing a yacht, consolidation has two faces. On the upside, it simplifies: a single point of contact, a clearer chain of accountability when something is defective, the capacity to absorb a heavy programme without shuttling the vessel from site to site. When a delivery date governs a cruising season, that continuity has real value.
The downside is just as real. Fewer independent players means less competitive tension and bargaining leverage that shifts toward the yard. Dependency rises: entrusting hull, paint and metalwork to the same group also means accepting that a delay on one trade can ripple across the whole job. And slot scarcity in the big Mediterranean basins tightens — a dry-dock window for a 100-metre-plus unit now has to be booked far in advance.
Running a refit well in this new landscape
The answer is not to avoid the large groups, but to approach them professionally. Three habits frame a well-run refit.
Book early and define the scope. For large units, the slot is sometimes negotiated twelve to eighteen months ahead. A precise specification — work list, deliverables, milestones, late penalties — beats an open-ended quote that drifts as the job unfolds.
Keep independent supervision. A single point of contact does not mean blind trust. An owner’s representative or technical manager on site tracks progress, validates man-hours, arbitrates the unexpected and defends the vessel’s interest against a yard that is both judge and party.
Preserve a minimum of competition. Even when one group offers everything, getting two or three sites to quote before committing keeps a price reference and bargaining power alive. This is precisely where the ship manager adds value: knowledge of the basins, of real capacity, and of market costs.
Yard consolidation is neither good nor bad news in itself. It is a change of landscape that rewards preparation and punishes improvisation. The well-advised owner gains a solid industrial partner; the one who turns up without a framework or a counterweight loses room to manoeuvre. Between the two, the whole difference lies in the quality of the oversight.
Sources
This article draws on the following sources:
- Amico & Co presents Amico Marine — Amico Shipyard
- Amico & Co consolidates refit and superyacht services — Marine Industry News
- Now Serving the Mediterranean: Safe Harbor Welcomes Monaco Marine — PR Newswire
- Safe Harbor Marinas acquires Monaco Marine — Marina World
- Blackstone Infrastructure to acquire Safe Harbor Marinas in $5.65B transaction — Blackstone
- Squircle Capital reaches 100% ownership of MB92 — MB92 Group
- Squircle Capital takes full ownership of MB92 Group — SuperyachtNews