A leading player in the yacht refit and repair market with over sixty years of experience, Lusben announces important changes to its corporate structure, with the appointment of Giorgio Casareto as General Manager and a major new investment plan. The fast-growing company is targeting the international market and planning some major investments over the next three years to boost supply capacity. The strategy is to upgrade the business’s infrastructure and services and to develop new technology in response to rising demand for refitting, maintenance and repair work in the mega yachts segment.
Lusben, a division of Azimut|Benetti Group, has announced two new appointments to its management team and an investment plan for 2023.
Giorgio Casareto has been given the task of pursuing Lusben’s expansion by drawing on his long experience in the yacht industry. Casareto will work on a refit area upgrade programme to further increase the significant growth forecast by the business plan in coming years. He is joined by Giovanni Paladino, who has been appointed Commercial Director tasked with developing the company’s sales structure and boosting its market presence. He comes to the company after gaining significant experience in top commercial and project management positions at major international industrial groups. The arrival of Giovanni Paladino completes the new corporate management team reporting to the General Manager, alongside Operations Director Alessandro Lazzerini, responsible for production, planning, logistics and project management for the yards, and Procurement Manager Leonardo Santini, tasked with integrating the purchasing structure for the three sites and harmonizing their strategies. All functions at the Livorno, Viareggio and Varazze sites report to the new corporate organizational structure.
The investments aren’t exclusively in human capital and include a detailed strategy to expand the services offered in response to growing demand from Italian and international operators and owners. The steady increase in large, complex orders won by Lusben in recent years has resulted in the need to expand the Varazze and Livorno operating sites. This will provide them with the new equipment and advanced technology that is vital to support growing demand - forecast to continue in coming years - as well as allowing them to offer an increasingly diverse and comprehensive range of services that can be tailored according to customers’ needs.
The 2023 investment plan sets out upgrades to the Livorno production site following the May 2022 purchase of the dock area. The redevelopment work currently underway is worth a total €12m. On completion, the site’s total area will rise to 220,000 square meters, made up of 90,000 square meters
of yard area and 130,000 square meters of water surface. This unusual and extremely innovative operation will provide additional space ashore for up to three boats more than 100 meters in length, over and above those routinely laid up. This will bring the number of berths ashore to 35, plus 32 moorings afloat. The site also offers a 2,400-ton sincrolift, a 180-meter-long floating dock with a capacity of 18,000 tonnes, and a closed dock for work to perform on yachts at their moorings.
An ambitious redevelopment project is currently in the planning stage for the Varazze site, with the total investment standing at about €7m so far. The area offers 15 lay-up berths ashore, plus 12 moorings afloat in the technical marina. When the project is complete, the site will also provide guest services in the crew area.
As can be seen, 2023 is set to be a year of major developments and changes for the yard, boosting its ability to provide top-of-the-range services to customers and consolidating Lusben’s position as a leading player in the international yacht and superyacht refit and repair industry.