Page 26: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Q1 2013)

LEADERSHIPGiuseppe Bono CEO, FincantieriRISK? Giuseppe Bono, CEO Fincantieri, knows a thing or two about risk. He?s at the head of what is arguably Europe?s largest, most diverse, progres- sive and aggressive ship construction entities, Fincantieri - Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A. Mr. Bono has his hands full combating lower-cost competition from the East, delicately balancing the convergence of a bad world economy, a worse Italian economy, a publicly owned shipyard with a new gov- ernment coming, and increasing ef ciencies while keeping the unions happy. Risk? Mr. Bono lives risk every day, yet still continues to win the lion?s share of global shipbuild- ing contracts. Matteo Bianchi, Maritime Professional cor- respondent in Italy, recently discussed with Mr. Bono the way ahead. ENG. BONO, THE YEAR BEHIND US WAS DIFFICULT FOR THE SHIPBUILD- ING INDUSTRY WORLDWIDE, AND FOR THE ITALIAN ECONOMY IN PAR- TICULAR. HOW DO YOU CONSIDER FINCANTIERI?S 2012?2012 has been an extremely difÞ cult year, especially for shipbuilding. Total global investments have been little more than a quarter of those in 2007, resulting in a halving of the number of cruise ship orders. WeÕve done our part by securing almost all of these orders and conÞ rming the dual challenge we set ourselves: on the one hand, to focus on sectors that of- fer good opportunities for development, and on the other, to maintain our leadership in our traditional sectors.2013 WILL BE A YEAR OF CHANGE; ITALY WILL HAVE A NEW GOVERN- MENT, FINCANTIERI WILL HAVE TO CONCLUDE NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE UNIONS ... WHAT ARE YOU EXPECTING FOR THIS YEAR? We have done our part, and we hope that the institutions re- sponsible for supporting exports will continue to sustain those in this strategic industry for the national economy. We also hope that the unions and workers feel conÞ dent about the future by giv- ing their utmost commitment to making our company ever more competitive. Without this determination, the results achieved this year, namely acquisition of basically all the new prototype cruise ships projects in 2012, will be hard to maintain.ALSO WITH A STRONG DETERMINATION THIS RESULT WILL BE HARD TO MAINTAIN, AS THE ECONOMY IS STILL IN DOWNTURN. Since 1990, Fincantieri has been a world leader in the cruise ship sector; we have delivered 63 cruise ships. Another seven ships are being built or will be built between now and 2016 in the groupÕs shipyards. In addition to the ships under con- struction, Fincantieri has recently reached two important agreements: with the US group Carnival Corporation for the construction of two cruise ships for the Holland America Line 26 | Maritime Professional | 1Q 2013MP #1 18-33.indd 26MP #1 18-33.indd 262/22/2013 3:56:50 PM2/22/2013 3:56:50 PM