Half a century of Navalips

By Evaristo Cos

Javier Cavada, the new owner of Navalips, sorry JCNavalips, has asked me to write a few lines as a reminder of the history of the factory, in order to commemorate the 50th anniversary of our company’s presence in Santander.

As if it were a story, I would like to begin the review of a whole life, so that a period of fifty years can be considered, with a classic expression; ONCE UPON A TIME, a company was born out of the need of a multinational company based in Holland, LIPS BV, owned by a multimillionaire of that same nationality called Maximilian Lips, which at that time was the main manufacturer of propellers and all their elements in the world and of its need to continue expanding its business throughout the world and, very especially, in Spain, a strategic point, at that time, of the naval sector at a European level.

This need coincides in time with a moment in which the naval sector in Spain is going through great effervescence, with countless shipyards along the entire Spanish coast, many of them owned by the state and which, like many other strategic sectors for the country, are grouped together in a state company called INI, National Institute of Industry.

This gave rise to NAVALIPS S.A. In 1964, with its first factory in the Cadiz Free Trade Zone, capitalised 50% by Lips BV and the INI, its corporate purpose was the manufacture and repair of all types of ship propellers, parts and accessories for them.

This work was carried out over the years with enormous success, which involved various extensions, both in facilities and personnel, reaching a peak of more than 150 people.
Later, on 1 December 1969, within the INI, Astilleros Españoles S.A. (AESA) was established as a result of the merger of the largest national shipbuilding companies.

• Constituent Companies of A.E.S.A. at its foundation:
• Astilleros de Cádiz S.A.: (Formed by the Cádiz Factory, the Seville Factory and the Manises-Valencia Factory)
• Spanish Naval Construction Company: (Formed by the Sestao-Bilbao Factory, the Matagorda-Puerto Real Factory and the Reinosa-Santander Factory)
• Esukalduna Company: (Formed by the Olaveaga-Vizcaya Factory, the Asua-Vizcaya Factory and the Villaverde-Madrid Factory).

This new company became the owner of 50% of the shares of Navalips S.A.

At a certain point, during the year 1972, the owners considered the need to find a suitable location to install another factory in the north of Spain, which at that time had a huge number of shipyards, large and small, along the entire coast, from Vigo to Fuenterrabía.

This plant would be aimed at covering a niche market for propellers that Cadiz could not cover at that time, since its manufacturing capacity was mainly directed at large tonnage propellers. The propeller of the aircraft carrier PRINCIPE DE ASTURIAS, weighing more than 60 tons, was manufactured there, and, due to this, it was overwhelmed by the size of the parts and the volume of orders that it could not meet.

To this end, the shareholders required Mr. Santiago Neira, director of the Cadiz Factory, to select from among the staff the right person to carry out this task, which consisted of choosing the ideal location, building a new plant and, subsequently, completing a sufficient workforce to start the activity and thus be able to expand the niche of products manufactured by both Factories.

This choice fell on a young chemist from San Fernando, barely 30 years old, recently married and with three small children, who had been working in the company since 1968, Guillermo Roca Suárez, son of a military sailor, a circumstance that, in the future, was very decisive due to the contacts that this circumstance entailed and that helped to obtain important contracts with the Navy.

In November 1972 he moved to Santander with instructions to look for a suitable location in the capital or its surroundings and for this purpose he settled in the factory of Astilleros de Santander, S.A., located right in front of the final location of NAVALIPS S.A. on the other side of the estuary that separates the municipalities of Astillero and Camargo.

Initially, he established his residence in Astillero and began his work by travelling throughout the north of Spain, introducing himself and informing the company of its intentions to all those who, in the not too distant future, were going to be our main clients and, in many cases, great friends, for many years to come.

Meanwhile, he worked on the location of the new plant, which, as he himself always said, he was very clear about, from the first moment he saw the land, that this was the ideal location, despite the fact that, at that time, it was a very little-used area and, for many years, the entire area had been covered with eucalyptus trees and had not been given the slightest use.

However, he assessed the possibilities of the area, next to the only communication route that existed at that time, the Santander – Bilbao highway, which was barely 100 metres from the chosen land, just 8 km from Santander.

The project was presented to the shareholders and they approved the purchase of the land, through a concession of the Coasts of the same in perpetuity and, once the corresponding deed was carried out, work immediately began on the project, permits and construction of the first warehouse.

During all this time, installed in Astilleros de Santander S.A. and using personnel from the shipyard itself, especially Manuel Sánchez Souto, later head of repairs at Navalips S.A. until his retirement and baptized with the nickname of “Maravillas”, given his ability to move around the shipyards where he worked, solving, no one knows how, any inconvenience that arose, propeller repairs were carried out which allowed, apart from obtaining a profit that helped the company to maintain an activity and be able to cover expenses, to make itself known throughout the north of Spain, informing of the upcoming start of the propeller manufacturing activity and obtaining important contacts that were decisive in the immediate future.

At the same time, once the process of building the Factory was taking shape, they proceeded to what, in the future, would be more decisive, the selection of the people who would carry out their work in the company. Initially, they thought of a staff of 15-16 people, where, in their opinion, it was not only a matter of looking for workers with the highest possible qualifications, which was the case, but also that they had personal values ​​that were beyond doubt. Time, always wise, showed that they were not wrong in their choice, since most of them remained in the company until their retirement.

Initially, they looked for professionals who had worked in the sector. In Maliaño there was a propeller foundry, PRONASA, from where several of the first selected workers came from and so over the next four years, young workers were incorporated, but all of them with experience, until they completed the staff that, later, until their retirement or force majeure prevented it, formed the basis of what is today Navalips.

I would like to make a brief aside in the story that will put us in time, to dedicate a special and grateful memory to those who first joined the team, fortunately two of them are still with us, Huidobro and Bustamante, and to the gradual incorporation of their first companions, of whom we must also regret some losses, to all of them, but especially to those who are not here, THANK YOU VERY MUCH for all the moments shared, the good and the bad, which have allowed us to acquire a bond that every time we have met anywhere, as “veterans” that we are, we fondly remember the anecdotes of the “grandfather of potheads” and in the case of Huidobro for reviewing these notes and correcting what, due to seniority, he lived and not only heard, as is my case, of those first years. (See Appendix 2)

At this point we resume the story. David Coca and the moulders were sent to Cadiz, where they stayed for a period of time that the company’s managers considered necessary for their adaptation and perfect knowledge of the systems and procedures used in that factory and which were the same ones they wanted to implement in Santander.

During all this time, the construction work on the ship was carried out and all the facilities and permits were installed and put into operation, until the inauguration and blessing of the factory took place on June 23, 1975. The curious circumstance arose that the priest who was to cover this event, D. José María, head of the church of San Juan Bautista del Alto de Maliaño, refused to do so, alleging that “he did not bless stones,” which forced them to ask the priest of Astillero, D. Francisco Martínez, if he could carry out the act, to which, as was his custom, he kindly agreed and so it was possible.

The company’s president, who at that time was Mr. Rafael Cardín and his wife, Mr. Jesús Marcaida from AESA and Mr. Ramón Becerra, production director of Navalips Cádiz, attended the first casting as guests.

The first ST-1 and 2 cast propellers were destined for Astilleros Balenciaga.

According to those present, the first three propellers that were cast were rejected due to problems with the moulds, which, in an effort to avoid this, were attempted to be reinforced by going down to the estuary to extract large stones to place on top; obviously, without success.

During this initial period, specifically between February 1975 and June 1977, the largest propellers delivered to our factory were manufactured, all of them under order from the Tomás Ruiz de Velasco shipyard in Bilbao. Specifically, 2 propellers with references ST-137-138 destined for the C-139 with a weight of 7,140 and 7,705 Kg. and 4 propellers with references ST-267-268-505-506, destined for the C-140 and 145, which reached a weight of between 9,222 and 9,510 Kg, the latter being the largest piece delivered to the factory to date. Due to the low capacity of our furnaces, the 1.10 ton furnace and the 2.5 ton furnace, these propellers had to be melted at AESA. Over the following years, the manufacturing and repair of single-block propellers of up to 10,000 kg increased progressively, initially under the supervision and strict control of the Cadiz factory, with a huge lack of confidence in us, which was transmitted to us every time a change in the production systems was proposed. Any investment, however small, was considered inappropriate and it was necessary to go to Cadiz to convince them and, reluctantly, get it approved.

Later, freed from this oppressive feeling, significant changes were made to the systems, e.g. replacing point moulding, moving on to using wooden models, which in Cadiz was considered an unnecessary expense, without the factory’s production ever ceasing to grow, at the same time as our prestige in the sector, due to the quality of the products and our finishes.

During all these years, the means of communication available were none other than landlines and teletypes, and all administrative work was done by hand, typewriters and calculators. We are talking about accounting, payrolls, offers, budgets, collections, payments, etc., which required a constant presence at the plant.

For this reason, in 1982, the computerization of the administrative system was undertaken through the German company Nixdorf. That was an odyssey; in those early years of computing, everything was going at such a tremendous speed that it even required the transfer of Huidobro and the person writing this to give training courses in Madrid and Bilbao, where we stayed for 15 days, and during which those who trained us did not know the equipment we had bought and, therefore, could not explain to us how it worked, giving us only basic notions of computing.

They were huge pieces of equipment for which we had to set up a specific room lined with cork, with fire extinguishers and a 3 x 3 metre platform to house the central unit, which initially had 16 springs supporting it to prevent the equipment from vibrating and which we had to leave on a 1 x 1 metre platform with 4 springs, given that when we had to insert or remove the disk, when we got on the platform, it bounced so much that it could fly away.

Around that time we also received the first fax, which when it arrived was brought to us by a messenger from AESA without telling us anything and we didn’t know what it was or how it worked, which forced us to call Astilleros de Santander, a company also in the group, to whom the same thing had happened and between all of us we started it up, exchanging calls from one to the other.

Another great milestone of the early days was, following a trip by Guillermo Roca to Cuba, at a time when the American embargo was fierce, in which a contract was signed with the Cuban Government, for the manufacture of a huge number of small propellers.

These propellers were of various different diameters, of which periodic shipments were made, for example 10 propellers of 1,200 mm. and 10 propellers of 1,300 mm., all the same, payable through irrevocable letters of credit, which, at that time, was the only way to do business with Cuba and get paid.
So, we said that twice as many propellers had been made as there were ships on the island. So much so that, many years later, they offered us scrap propellers from Cuba and I asked them to send me the photographs to verify what we were talking about and what was our surprise when the photos arrived and we saw the packages with our propellers inside unopened, thrown on a beach and covered in sand.
Later, during the 1990s, we started working with Cuba again, this time through Astilleros de Santander S.A., where Cuban ships had been brought in for maintenance for years, and we tried to repair the Chinese propellers that had been installed for years, of poor quality, without any maintenance, and that, when you brought the blowtorch to them to change their pitch, cracks began to appear and, in most cases, you had to tell them that they could not be repaired.

This meant that we made some new ones for them, negotiating with the inspectors that the Cuban government sent all over the world to verify the execution of the work that the ships had to do and everything related to what they required for their maintenance. These propellers were charged, at prices without discussion, through Spanish companies with which they did business and they were the ones who paid us.

All this was done in a single 60 x 15 metre warehouse where the different jobs in each of the sections had to be carried out, with two cranes, a 5-ton GH and a 15-ton DEMAG, which continually led to unavoidable waiting times.

There are a huge number of anecdotes and situations from that time that, seen from today, may seem curious and even funny, but which at that time caused tremendous concern until they were resolved.
Like that afternoon, at about 5:00 p.m., the phone rang and a voice was heard clamoring:

Hey! I’m Balayos de Muros, let’s see, I don’t know what you guys have done, but I have half of the authorities in the water and the rest on the dock lying on the ground. When we went to launch the boat we put it in forward gear and the boat went backwards and knocked down the small platform we had installed for the authorities and guests.

I immediately contacted David who immediately went to the factory to see what could have happened. At first, a model was considered to be manufactured with the turn in reverse. Nobody could take away our disappointment, although in the end the mistake was, depending on who you spoke to, the naval engineer, according to the shipowner when designing the project, and, according to the engineer, the shipowner’s fault for not providing him with all the necessary information regarding the reduction gear.

In those years, there was a large portfolio of loyal customers. Shipyards, shipowners and engine manufacturers located mainly in Vizcaya, Guipuzcoa, Asturias and Galicia. (See appendix 1)
From the mid-1980s, with the decline of single-piece propellers, especially in large vessels, it became necessary to adapt our production systems, mainly due to the increasingly important implementation of variable pitch propellers, another world in relation to what had been the tradition and history of propulsion equipment up to that time.

At the same time, through the efforts of Guillermo Roca, a collaboration agreement was reached with Astilleros Canarios S.A. (ASTICAN), current owner of Astilleros de Santander, for the installation of a repair centre within the shipyard’s facilities, in order to facilitate a repair service that would serve as an additional attraction for them when offering their services and would provide us with constant billing and contacts in the area that we lacked at that time.

For this purpose, a person trusted by Guillermo was selected at the Cádiz factory, Luis Carlier Sillero.
A group of people from the Asticán staff was chosen, who were trained in Santander and who, over many years, formed the Navalips Canarias repair team with excellent results both professionally and financially. Later, after Luis’ illness and subsequent death, Juan Carlos Roca was hired to replace him, who, for some years, was in charge of the repair centre in the Canary Islands.

At that time, one of our shareholders, LIPS BV, asked us to collaborate with them in the manufacture of HPC blades. Some had already been manufactured sporadically, for which the presence of our management team in Holland was required to try to coordinate what they want and how they want things to be done.

This forced major changes to the production system, which David Coca did not hesitate to tackle, inventing systems with moulding boxes, to which he gradually incorporated different turning systems, replacing cement moulding with silicates, etc. All these changes not only meant adapting to what LIPS BV was asking for, but also a significant evolution of the plant, which involved a very significant reduction in moulding times, which made it possible to greatly speed up the casting of the parts, while generating enormous energy savings by not having to use the electric mould dryers, which had to be connected for days on end, with excessive energy consumption and the consequent delays in casting.

In addition, the quality standards that, until then, were based on propellers manufactured in Class II and, in some exceptional cases, in Class I, were now always Class I and, in some cases, Class S was already required.

All this was neither easy nor cheap, as there were continuous problems, moulds that sank, pores that appeared excessively in the parts, which caused continuous rejections and, consequently, significant unforeseen costs that had to be faced and explained to the shareholders. Fortunately, Guillermo Roca always trusted Coca and knew that, sooner rather than later, with David’s ability and the invaluable help of the moulding section staff and the collaboration of José María Cossio, recently incorporated quality manager, it would be achieved.

And so began a beautiful period with a lot of work, with constant improvements in the production systems that, only in 1993, were paralyzed by the tremendous crisis that our country went through and that led, even, to being forced to sign, prior agreements with the staff, several periods of employment regulation, in which always, from the company, it was ensured that it was fair with each and every one of the employees, adjusting the regulation times to the minimum possible and in the most proportional way possible, depending on what the jobs required, facilitating all the procedures with the employment offices and unemployment payment that were always carried out by the company. Despite everything, the company did not suffer losses that year either, despite the fact that production was very low, barely 65 tons. Apart from the repairs, which were important and represented a significant percentage of the turnover, we were lucky that, that year, the Ministry of Defense initially required us to repair four propeller blades of a frigate manufactured in the USA and of a technical complexity that we had never seen before.

So much so that, on the part of the JAL, at the time of the delivery of these plans, we were forced to sign a document by which they made us responsible for the conservation and storage of them and for any leak of the technical data they contained. These plans have been deposited in Navalips since then and, I suppose, will continue to be preserved.

These blades were badly damaged and due to their complexity, once the extent of the damage was seen and it was impossible to repair any of them, we were ordered six new blades, which, added to the contract for the repair of those that were badly damaged but repairable, meant a very high billing amount that, in the long run, would save the year.

The staff who were on staff at that time still remember the channels on the edges of the blades, the plates that covered them and that, later, had to be drilled so that the water that was introduced under pressure could escape and that required a very uniform exit, since, as explained to us by the ship captains and admirals who, on repeated occasions, came for the opportune and intense inspections, this was essential since it made it easier to avoid being detected by submarines.

All this, in the future, meant that, when the Spanish government requested offers for the propulsion of the F-100 frigates that, destined for the Spanish Navy, were being manufactured at the Empresa Nacional Bazán in Ferrol, Navalips had a privileged position in the bidding, by managing the offer from Lips BV presented through us, since, apart from the economic offer, one of the demands of the Navy was that our company should be the one to manufacture all the blades of these frigates, which forced Lips BV to subcontract the manufacture to us.

The achievement of this contract, managed by Guillermo Roca, in an environment that he dominated like no one else, since that is where it came from, as indicated at the beginning, and which was finally signed with Lips BV, implied a double benefit for us, first as managers of the negotiation we received an important commission from Lips BV and second, during the following years, we manufactured 50 blades of the highest quality and technical demand that meant the consolidation of Navalips as the most technically important manufacturer in the sector.

From this moment on, the need to update the factory began to be studied, especially in terms of the expansion and modernization of the facilities and their production systems, especially the issue of the ovens. It must be remembered that since the inauguration of the factory we had been working with diesel ovens that were supplied from a 5,000 liter tank, which had to be refilled every so often.

This did not allow us to produce the quality of casting required by the type of product we were manufacturing and it greatly limited our production due to the capacity and frequency of casting and the waiting times required for the maintenance of the furnaces we had. To this end, Guillermo Roca, who knew that there were some electric furnaces in Bazán de Cádiz that had been retired for years but that could be interesting for us, contacted them to assess the possibility of acquiring them.

Once Bazán opened the door to this operation, Guillermo Roca and Narciso Trueba traveled to Cádiz so that the latter could analyze the state of the installation and all the elements that made it up, three furnaces of 10, 5 and 3 tons, their transformers and the rest of the elements necessary for their operation, as well as the possible adaptation of them to the expansion that, at that time, was already being carried out in the factory.

Finally, the acquisition of the ovens and the entire electrical system that accompanied them was completed for a ridiculous amount, 2,000,000.00 pesetas, the equivalent today of €12,000.00 and the cost of transport to Maliaño.

From that moment on, 1995, and during the following years, the construction of the new warehouse was carried out, 1996, and the installation of the ovens purchased from Bazán until they were put into operation in January 1997, as well as the subsequent extension of the old warehouse, now a moulding warehouse, up to the limits with Flejes Especiales, through an agreement with them for the maximum use of the land.

At this point I do not want to overlook, because I believe it is only fair, the importance that a person with enormous capacity and knowledge had in everything related to the new installation of the ovens and their commissioning, who, until his retirement in 2007, was responsible for the maintenance and correct operation of everything at Navalips, Narciso Trueba.

From then on, various changes were made to the production systems, as we had the necessary space for each section to have the means that previously, due to this lack, could not be made available.
For example, the location and equipment of each work section were perfectly defined, without one interfering with the other. Molding and repairs remained in the old warehouse with their perfectly delimited spaces. Finishing and machining moved to the new warehouse, leaving the entire back of both for the oven section and raw materials storage. On the other hand, the quality control section was able to have its own space, as well as the personnel and means appropriate to the new reality in which product traceability was essential.

This new installation allowed us to be leaders in the sector for the quality of our final product and thus be able to compete in all markets with the guarantee that was required at all times.

At that time, a new and important change occurred in the approaches of Navalips – Santander. There was an unwritten rule from the beginning, but one that we all knew, according to which no family member of the original staff could access the possible jobs that over the years, very occasionally, due to substitutions that have been reflected in the staff table, were incorporated. It is true that, at the beginning, this problem did not exist, since the children and family members of the first workers, during all those years, were children or adolescents not of age to do so.

And that is where the great change took place. The initial Navalips staff was governed by its own agreement, originally inherited from Cadiz, which contained economic and social conditions far superior to those of the companies in our environment.

In order to expand the staff, the need to join the Cantabria metal agreement was negotiated with the staff, of course, guaranteeing those of us who were in the Navalips agreement the AD PERSON conditions that we had included in the original agreement until the time of our retirement.

In the negotiations, the need to increase the workforce by a good number of people was raised and, at that time, the workers presented to the company the reality that almost all of them already had relatives who were ready to enter the labour market and that if the workforce had to be increased, it should be, if possible, with members of our families.

After the appropriate discussions and once the proposed conditions had been accepted by both parties, a very important event occurred, which for 20 years had only occurred through occasional replacements, as all the workers who are now part of the workforce began to join and who, after so many years in the factory, make up the core of the “new veterans” of Navalips Santander. (Annex 3)

At this point in the story, I would like to make a comment on the management of the purchase of, in my opinion, the key element to achieve a product of the highest quality, such as the one that has always been manufactured at Navalips, but also the most determining factor in terms of the cost of the final product, the raw material.

For us, it was obvious that the raw material should always be purchased at the time of placing the order, with periodic deliveries based on the delivery time of the parts. This guaranteed that, at the time of placing the order, we already knew that the production cost for this essential element would not vary, regardless of market fluctuations.

Let us not forget that raw materials sometimes accounted for 60% of the cost of our products. A phrase that I repeated every time this procedure was questioned in Holland was “we are foundries, not speculators.” Today, I still believe that any other purchasing procedure involves risks that should not be assumed by any company in which the raw material is so decisive in the final cost of the product.

During the first 20 years, as we only had diesel furnaces, only propeller scrap was used. At first, it was purchased on the national market, but over the years and with the increase in production, offers were received from all over the world from the United Kingdom to India. The same procedure was always used: requesting an analysis of the product offered, always including the analysis in the order and, upon receipt of the material, taking samples of the received material and verifying the product. As long as this did not coincide with what was stated in our order, it was rejected and the material was not paid for.

So much so that, during the time of the oil furnaces, on one occasion we bought two containers of scrap from India, which, when they arrived at the factory and we checked them, we found that the analyses had nothing to do with the order and that it was a product of very low quality. We immediately informed them that they were available to be collected back to their origin. They never came to collect them, the cost of taking them back would have been higher than the price of the product and we ended up selling it to a scrap dealer. A round deal.

This procedure was the same when the electric furnaces were installed. The price of the raw material was set based on the London metal exchange in pounds sterling, which we then insured in USD and ended up paying in pesetas or, later, in euros. At first, for a few months, we bought copper cathodes, the Jabugo ham of copper, and then, little by little, we adjusted the product so that we could have more competitive purchase prices.

If we bought other materials, the procedure was the same.

Already, in the era of electric ovens, we had an anecdote caused by a misunderstanding. We bought two containers of copper pipes from the United Kingdom that came from the dismantling of a hydraulic power station and, as always, we had the previous analyses and, in this case, I asked them, I don’t know very well why, for a certificate of origin of the material, which they sent without any problem. When the containers arrived at the factory, some “enlightened” person began to say that they came from a nuclear power station. A very big San Fermín was set up and no matter how many times you showed the certificates of origin and the analyses of the material, there was no way to convince the union representatives and there was even a threat of a staff walkout.

We had to look for someone in Santander who could provide the equipment to verify this material, a gamma radiation detector. In the end we contacted the University of Santander, which turned out to be the only institution that had this equipment in our region and they sent university personnel to verify it. Obviously, there was no such radiation.

Another very significant anecdote regarding the raw material comes from the year 2000. In that year, national currencies began to be withdrawn from all EU member states until the definitive implementation of the euro in Europe in January 2002.

In Spain, the management of this, through the appropriate public auction, was granted to the company Botrade S.L. located in Berango (Vizcaya) and which, for years, was the main supplier of copper for Navalips.

The Ministry of Finance required them to have facilities with extreme security measures in which, for example, both the staff who worked there and the visitors who at some point had to go there, had to pass, both at the entrance and exit, through metal detection arches.

These facilities continuously received convoys of trucks loaded with legal tender coins, guarded by the police, coming from the deposits of the National Mint and Stamp Factory, for their destruction and subsequent sale.

Given our great relationship with Botrade, we obtained the exclusive right to purchase these coins, at 80% of the market value, and during the following years, until we were practically finished with them, we had a periodic supply of a product that was in line, except for minor corrections, with the final analysis of our alloy.

Last year, 2023, a final auction was held for 360 tons of coins of various alloys, deposited in the warehouses of the National Mint and Stamp Factory.

In 2002, Guillermo Roca found himself in the position of finding a replacement for David Coca, who had always said that he would retire at the age of 60. To do this, a first selection of personnel was made in which two people were chosen, a man and a woman, and after the interviews and evaluation of the resumes, the decision was made to incorporate Javier Cavada Camino from Robert Bosch.
From that moment on, for a year, he acquired the theoretical and practical knowledge of a process that he was not familiar with and for which he could rely on the best teacher. When the changeover took place on 06.01.2003, Navalips already had a person trained in the real needs of the company with a single purpose, with the collaboration of all the people who made up the staff, the continuity of what had been the golden age of the factory.

All the activity of Navalips as such continued until the agreement was signed on July 21, 2005 by which AESA sold 50% of the shares to Wartsila, who since 2003 was the owner of LIPS BV, after some comings and goings in the shareholding between Lips BV and Wartsila Propulsion, and, therefore, transferred ownership of the company to the buyer.

From that moment on, a new stage began, and in 2006, the new owners decided to replace the people who had the highest responsibilities in the company. The first of them was the founder of the factory, Guillermo Roca, who had managed it with the utmost professionalism and successfully since 1974.
In those 32 years, the plant did not stop growing and obtaining, each and every year, benefits that allowed the company to be what it is today, self-financing all investments at zero cost to the shareholders.

To replace Guillermo, Mr. Van Níe was sent from Holland, who worked at our plant for just over a year. The main memory I have of him, an excellent person with a very friendly manner, was that, at that time, we were forced to buy raw materials from Holland, who sent us recyclables and other materials of a quality much lower than what we normally used. When the first invoices started to arrive, I discovered that the price at which we bought the material was 20% lower than what the Dutch charged us, since we bought 10% of the material they bought, so the prices they should get, obviously, had to be much lower than ours.

In my Spanglish, I tried for several weeks, locked in his office, to explain to him on the whiteboard why it was impossible for this to be happening and to suggest to him that something was wrong with that equation. The group’s head of purchasing was a colleague and friend of his for many years and, according to him, he was a person he completely trusted. Every time they sent us the invoice for a supply, when he arrived at the office, he had on the whiteboard in his office the analysis of the price in Holland and the one I could get. In the end, he ended up going to Holland, presented it, and the aforementioned man stopped being head of raw material purchasing and we were able to manage the purchase again, as it had always been, from Santander.

The next to retire in 2007 was Carlos Huidobro who, like Guillermo Roca, carried out his work as Head of Administration, from the beginning of the project, with the same success in his work, despite the difficulties that over the years it was necessary to avoid and manage.

We cannot forget that for 30 years, this department, which consisted of only two people, carried out all the administrative, accounting, payroll, collection, payment, annual factory budgets, offers, purchase of raw materials and also the control of the Canary Islands Repair Centre, managing its accounting and finances.

As if this were not enough, during the last years of Navalips Cádiz, when its activity was practically non-existent, we at Santander also had to manage all its finances and cover the economic gaps that this situation entailed until its definitive closure and the sale of the land. By the way, all this, including the management and contracting of the insurance policies that covered the early retirement of the Cádiz staff until the date of retirement of each worker, was verified and carried out under the supervision of Santander.

Also in 2007, the next to leave was Narciso Trueba, who, as we have already mentioned, was responsible for the transformation of the plant through the perfect maintenance of the facilities and the successful transfer of the absolutely obsolete foundry equipment to what it is today, thanks to him.

In 2008, an expansion of the facilities began, with the construction of a new warehouse, and a progressive change of direction for the company, which stopped producing for clients outside the Wartsila group and thus abandoned activities and sectors that for many years were tremendously lucrative (example: Repairs and propellers for shipyards and tuna vessels).

But this is obviously for others to talk about, since the person writing this, with obvious errors, was forced to leave the company at the end of 2008, together with José María Cossio, for not accepting the “proposals” made to us by Wartsila, being “invited” to leave the company, dragging Gema García, José María’s assistant, along with us. By the way, now that it is so fashionable, we must remember that she was the first woman to provide her services in the company and the only one who worked there at that time.

Later, in 2022, Javier Cavada acquired the ownership of the company from Wartsila, with the aim, as far as I know because he himself has told me, of ensuring its continuity, seeking to resume old markets and very lucrative activities that had been abandoned and managing new production niches, of which I do not have much knowledge, but I am sure they will serve to take the company to a level of excellence. Under the new ownership, the company was renamed JC Navalips, S.L.

Everything written in these lines is based on memory, since there is no documentation of Navalips that we can rely on, because, at the time, someone considered that the history of this company, located on this small “island” in the north of Spain, would not interest anyone and they got rid of any document that recalled it.

In that, those who made that decision were wrong, it is of interest to all those whom I have wanted to remember during these pages and to others, who forgive me, I have forgotten to mention.
These lines are dedicated, very especially, to all those colleagues and friends who are no longer with us: Guillermo, David, Pepe Gancedo, Felix, Pepe Iglesias, Eusebio, Carravilla, Monchi, Pedro, Manolo “Maravillas”, Pepe Galván, Luis and to all of us who are still here, who feel part of something that was ours and that, with its good and bad moments, allowed us to grow as people and give a better life to our loved ones, many of whom are now present and future members of Navalips.

And, of course, to all those who have subsequently joined over all these years, and, today, fight to keep OUR company at the forefront of the market with their effort and dedication.

ANNEX 1.- Main clients

• Astilleros:
• Astilleros Armón
• Astilleros Balenciaga
• Astilleros de Huelva
• Astilleros Españoles
• Astilleros Ferrolanos
• Astilleros Murueta
• Astilleros Zamacona
• Construcciones Navales Paulino Freire
• Construcciones Navales Santodomingo
• Hijos de J. Barreras
• Juliana Constructora Gijonesa
• Lasa Hermanos
• Naval Gijón
• Tomás Ruiz de Velasco
• Unión Naval de Levante
• Fabricantes de motores:
• Guascor
• Lips BV
• Motores Baudouin
• Sulzer
• Va Tech Escher Wyss
• Wartsila
• Atuneros:
• Albacora
• Flebasa
• Isnasa
• Pevasa

ANNEX 2.- Template

First workers:

• Director Guillermo Roca Suárez  
• David Coca Trueba was selected as Production Manager.  
• The administrative management was entrusted to Carlos Huidobro Maestro. The office was installed in Guillermo Roca’s new home in Santander, on 1 Castelar Street, while the new plant was being built.  
•  The molding section was made up of José Gancedo Camargo, Felix Adrados Ruiz, Carlos Bustamante García and José Ángel Iglesias Sánchez.  
• Also part of the initial staff were Baldomero Carravilla, who died in a traffic accident while working at our company, and Manuel, who left Navalips and worked as a security guard for a security company that Navalips hired and served as a night security guard at our plant. .

Then, gradually, and over a period of three years, they incorporated

• Evaristo Cos Estébanez joined the administration department

• Gonzalo Pérez Gómez was hired as baker.  

• The repair department was made up of Manuel Sánchez Souto, José Galván Delgado and Severino Pérez Gómez.  

•  The machining department was initially made up of José Fernando Guerra Fernández and Julio Sánchez Portilla.  

• The finishing section was made up of Manuel Soto Rodríguez, Miguel Ángel Pérez Villoslada, José Ramón Espeso Lapouble, Pedro Callejo and Juan Márquez Núñez.  

Years later, other people were added to replace some casualties that occurred or due to the creation of new departments:

•  To replace David Coca, who retired on 01/06/2003, in 2002, Javier Cavada Camino, current owner of JCNavalips, joined.  
• After Gancedo’s accident and retirement, Eusebio Campo Alonso joined the molding section, who, due to production needs, had already worked briefly in the company previously.  
• In machining, replacing Guerra, Cipriano Sedano Vega joined, who in turn was replaced by Jesús Carrera Castillo and, later, after Julio’s transfer to the new Quality Control department, in 1990 Fernando San Emeterio joined, who, after Today, he continues to provide his services to the company.  
• Likewise, the Quality Control department was created, whose responsibility fell to José María Cossio Pereda and, later, Gema García Gutiérrez joined, who since the 80s collaborated by doing specific work at Christmas, organizing files, etc.

ANNEX 3.- “New veterans”:

• Agustín González  
• Antonio Cagigas  
• Enrique Uslé  
• Faustino Conde  
• Felix Adrados Jr  
• Fernando Brugos  
• Francisco Coca  
• Francisco Pérez  
• Francisco Ruiz  
• Ignacio Gutiérrez  
• Ignacio Santamaría  
• Israel Gandiaga  
• Javier Arce  
• José Angel Iglesias Jr  
• José Penilla  
• Julio Sánchez Jr  
•  Manuel Gómez  
• Oscar Campo  
• Sergio Cos Cuesta  
• Sergio Iglesias  

EXTERNAL STAFF:

• Cleaning Service: Africa, Consuelo and Nieves Cavia, which still continues to provide service to the company  
• Security guards: For many years they provided their services as security personnel in the company:

Day service: Enrique

Night service: Manuel, who, as indicated above, was part of the initial Navalips staff

Guard for shifts and reliefs: Matías