We met Stefano de Vivo, the chief commercial officer of Ferretti Group and CRN, one of the best shipyard’s in the international nautical industry
by Francesco Michienzi
CRN’s story is all about evolution and great tradition: the story of a prestigious brand that has always been able to anticipate trends, becoming a style icon and a point of reference for the nautical industry in Italy.
The shipyard was founded in Ancona in 1963 by entrepreneur Sanzio Nicolini under the name of Costruzioni e Riparazioni Navali, the origin of the acronym CRN with which the firm has established itself worldwide and is still known today. In 1999, the shipyard was acquired by the Ferretti Group, which has been part of the Weichai Group since January 2012. CRN’s more than fifty years of history is a fascinating story that alternates amazing insights, great successes and some difficult moments, combining genius, entrepreneurial ability and passion for the product in a sector that has written some memorable pages in modern Italian industry.
We talked to Stefano De Vivo who is also a board member of CRN. He is 37, a graduate in Engineering and Naval Architecture at University College London, and has a Master’s from the University of Sciences and Technology of Hong Kong.
As he told us: «CRN is a leading yard in the construction of full custom pleasure ship. Today, in order to meet the needs of a highly evolving market, we are proposing projects with lines already set by major international design studios. These include Zuccon International Project, Omega by Franck Laupman, Nuvolari and Lenard and Francesco Paszkowski. This is exactly what our recent history tells us: Chopi Chopi, Atlante, Saramour, Yalla and Cloud 9, although very different from each other, all express the value of this concept».
One of CRN’s strengths is the ability of its technical department to handle complex naval platforms to respond quickly to requests for fully customised vessels. As Mr De Vivo emphasised: «We feel most competitive in the 70 to 80 metre range. In this segment we are leaders, building the 79 metre Chopi Chopi, the 73 metre Yalla, the 74 metre Cloud 9, delivered only a couple of months ago, and a 79 metre vessel we are currently working on; all yachts of between 2,000 and 2,800 Gross Tonnage».
CRN engineers have developed the ability to find the best technical solutions for the most complex demands of certain customers: «The owner of Atlante wanted special hold doors to let the tender in and out, as well as using this area as a pleasure area when the tenders were at sea. To meet this demand, we developed solutions that have remained in our know-how. I think that the expertise that we gained with those doors is unique in the world of sailing; we can create special hold doors that open upwards or downwards with a single system. This shows how advanced we are in research and development».
Pleasure boats now represent the owner’s dream, and they love to design the distinctive features of their yachts together with the designers: «The customer can start from scratch and develop the project together with us, working personally with the designer and the workers in the yard. It is one of the few opportunities when they can create their own artwork».
Observing CRN products, you can see that they are all different: «Our goal is to make the owner an active part of the yacht building project. We provide our technical know-how, and they offer their life experiences and needs». A recurring theme among the builders of pleasure boats is the perception of product quality. Stefano De Vivo told us: «I think that we are now on the level of Northern European ship builders. CRN builds boats of a similar standard to the Dutch, according to the surveyor who followed Cloud 9 and the brokers who have come to see how we make the systems».
Nonetheless, Italian shipbuilders continue not to be seen as quality operators: «Unfortunately, some of our competitors are willing to considerably lower prices in order to increase their market share, and some get quotes wrong without realising the damage that they cause to their own companies and the system as a whole. CRN has the advantage of the Group’s financial solidity, and today the problem of bank guarantees no longer exists».
Right now, the size of the yard means that we can build a maximum of 3,000 gross tonnage employing 350 full-time people. «CRN can combine a range of operational aspects and technical research that we can share with other brands in the Ferretti Group».
The Ancona shipyard is also dedicated to building SuperYachts for the whole Ferretti Group, and is working at full capacity. «This is a period in which we feel the need to have more room to offer our CRN clients a refit service; our La Spezia site, which could also do this activity, is now full, so we need to rely on other structures. We believe that our customers should be able to come to use for all the work that they need doing».
(Full Custom ships, in conversation with Stefano de Vivo – Barchemagazine.com – October 2017)
