Rheinmetall buys Damen's Mangalia shipyard in Romania for 138 million euros
The judicial liquidator CITR announced on Friday, 9 October 2026 that the Damen Shipyards Mangalia yard was sold at auction to Rheinmetall Real Estate România SRL. The sale closes a two-year insolvency that followed a dispute between the Romanian state and Damen.
The sale
CITR, the judicial liquidator of Damen Shipyards Mangalia, announced on Friday, 9 October 2026 that the Mangalia shipyard had been sold through an auction for 138,034,320.47 euro excluding VAT. The winner is Rheinmetall Real Estate România SRL, a subsidiary of the German defence group Rheinmetall. Rheinmetall had not taken part in any earlier auction for the yard before Friday. In May 2026 the company had said it was analysing a takeover of the site together with the Swiss group MSC, with the aim of turning it into a centre for building military and civilian ships.
Paul Dieter Cîrlănaru, CEO of CITR, said the sale opens the way for the yard to resume operations.
This step ensures the possibility of resuming activity at the Mangalia Naval Shipyard, one of the most important industrial assets in Romania. The sale represents the end of a complex valorisation process meant to ensure business continuity and an encouraging prospect for the future.
Two years of insolvency and dispute
The Romanian state holds 51% of the Mangalia shipyard and Damen holds 49%. In 2018 the Dutch group Damen bought the majority stake held by South Korea's Daewoo and agreed to transfer 2% of the shares to the state, which brought the state to 51% while Damen kept 49% and operational and managerial control under the agreement. In 2023 Damen said that Law No. 187/2023 had annulled the legal framework on which the partnership operated, and it served notice to terminate the 2018 association agreement. The dispute went to international arbitration, with Damen seeking termination of the agreement at the Vienna International Arbitration Court. Damen Holding then asked for the insolvency of Damen Shipyards Mangalia, and the Constanța Tribunal opened the procedure on 19 June 2024, appointing CITR as judicial administrator.
- Damen buys majority stake from Daewoo and agrees to transfer 2% to the state
- Law 187/2023 adopted and Damen serves notice to terminate the association agreement
- Constanța Tribunal opens insolvency procedure for Damen Shipyards Mangalia
- Rheinmetall says it is analysing a takeover of the site with MSC
- CITR announces sale to Rheinmetall Real Estate România SRL for 138,034,320.47 euro
- Romanian state
- 51 %
- Damen
- 49 %
Navy contract and workforce
The sale is linked to a contract of 920 million euro that the Romanian government signed with Rheinmetall to build four military ships at the site. The contract is financed through the European SAFE programme and must be delivered by 2030. Radu Miruță, the dismissed defence minister, said in a statement released through USR that the yard would produce four ships for the Romanian Army by 2030.
For the Romanian Army, four ships will be produced here by 2030. People will have even more jobs, the shipyard will benefit from the investments needed to produce to the standards required by the Army, and Romania is saving from extinction the largest shipyard in a NATO member European country.
Workers waiting
Laurențiu Gobeajă, leader of the Navalistul union on the shipyard platform, told News.ro before the announcement that any delay discourages employees who might want to return. He said about 1,000 workers were dismissed this summer and that several hundred of them are still directly interested in going back. The buyer's plans for staffing levels were not detailed in the articles beyond the four ships due by 2030 and the jobs Miruță said would be created.
