The city’s damp winds and persistent rain aren’t the real story behind the Bouzas repair dock’s weathered charm. The open sea pushes the elements harder, and the crews do what they can to shield themselves from ships stalled in the harbor. Most vessels waiting out the weather are packed with cars, parked close together in the shadow of the Ro-Ro ships that help clear congestion at the terminal. Mecanasa is a marine auxiliary with more than twenty years of experience, focusing on installation, maintenance and repair of mechanical equipment. It acts like a hospital for boats docking in Vigo that arrive with a problem or simply need a routine inspection.
Its 2,700-square-meter warehouse serves many purposes. It operates as a clean room for ship parts and engines that come to a pause, their lifeblood temporarily halted. The workshop head, Jorge Calo, notes that these cases are the ones he prefers, describing engines that measure seven meters long and nearly three meters high as especially challenging. He explains during a visit to Faro de Vigo that when such large components appear, the team disassembles and rebuilds them to locate the fault. The facility handles all kinds of machinery: conventional and numerically controlled lathes, milling machines, and more. The crew works inside like doctors but is also called to the city’s main shipyards to provide on-site assistance.
Inside Mecanasa.
Usually the smallest engines are brought on board, which means the engines used in a typical car become much larger on the vessel. Caring for the larger units requires moving staff to where the engines are docked, since otherwise the operations would have to rely on on-ship procedures using external cranes within the facility. The team inspects the ship’s heart and ensures every part fits perfectly, whether for main or auxiliary vessels. After thousands of hours of work, the engines either run again or maintain a precise cadence, like clockwork.
Projects and ships
Among the current projects, Mecanasa is repairing several key components of the tuna vessel Montelape, registered in El Salvador and owned by Calvo, part of Grupo Nauterra. The vessel, which measures 78 meters, features a dock roller that helps dry the net and speeds up bag closure to reduce fish loss. The company also played a pivotal role in 2020 during the rescue of 29 sailors aboard Albacora 6, which leaked and sank about 260 miles south of the Ivory Coast.
The firm is involved in assembling the engine for the 24-meter French-flagged María Magdalena and in coordinating various components for the 74-meter Estonian-flagged Madrus. For the María Magdalena, workshop professionals and shipboard workers coordinate remotely, preparing the necessary parts inside the ship and then transporting them to Celeiro in Lugo. In addition to these three vessels, Mecanasa is finishing arrangements for two ships associated with Galicia’s Customs Surveillance Service, vessels crucial in the fight against drug smuggling. A high-altitude patrol vessel and an interceptor are among the key projects.
Crane components, rudders and other apparatus are also serviced on site, with days beginning at seven in the morning and running until three in the afternoon. Typically four or five repair specialists work at the facility, while others are dispatched to various local shipyards as needed. The workshop is also facing a future shaped by change: the company is hiring younger workers, but the industry is experiencing a generational gap. The old guard is fading, middle-skilled workers are scarce, and there is a noticeable lack of mentors for the new generation.