Point Hope Shipyards
In 2003, Victoria-born Ian Maxwell, President and CEO of the Ralmax Group of Companies, submitted a bid to acquire the assets of a bankrupt Point Hope Shipyard for Ellice Recycle, one of the Ralmax companies. The City of Victoria, owners of the property at that time, asked Ian if he would consider instead resurrecting the historic shipyard. With no previous experience in the ship repair and maintenance business, Ian, a skilled and passionate problem-solver and researcher, explored the opportunity. A long-term lease was agreed upon, and his private investment of $20-million followed to modernize and expand the shipyard’s infrastructure and capacity bringing the business up to the highest international environmental standards. The shipyard reopened in 2006 with 20 employees and by 2011 the yard was working at capacity widely recognized for reliable quality workmanship. Today up to 200 union employees are working at Point Hope Maritime and more than 650 businesses – majority of them local - provide products and services throughout the year. Once again operating a capacity, Point Hope Maritime is pleased to share plans for a graving dock that will allow vessels up to 560feet to drydock in Victoria’s upper harbour. A graving dock represents a $50-million private investment and 200 additional union jobs - jobs that will sustain families for the next generation. Riccardo Regosa, Point Hope Maritime’s new General Manager joins us today to provide Rotarians with an overview of Point Hope and the proposed graving dock project.
Riccardo’s Bio
Riccardo Regosa was born in Blacktown, Australia. Before his 2nd birthday, the Family Regosa returned to the Netherlands where he grew up in a small city close to Rotterdam.
Prior to joining the shipbuilding and ship repair industry, Riccardo served for 10 years in the Royal Dutch Navy. He was educated as a marine engineer and participated in various management programs. Riccardo completed the Leadership Development Program at the Nyenrode Business University.
Before joining Point Hope, Riccardo was the Managing Director of GSP Shipyard in Romania, prior to this, however Riccardo enjoyed a 17 year career in various management positions with Damen Shipyard Group. He joined Damen in 1998 as Engineer in Damen Field Services where he was responsible for commissioning, technical training of crews and following up guarantee claims of delivered ships.
Riccardo’s talents were quickly recognized and highly valued. For the last 15 years with Damen, Riccardo worked in various senior management positions at Damen shipyards around the world including the Netherlands, Poland, China, Romania and the United Arab Emirates. Throughout his career, Riccardo has specialized in project operations and general management.
When Riccardo is not at work, he enjoys spending time with his wife Liesbeth and their two children Sophia and Gabriël. He is grateful to them for their spirit of adventure that has them on a global journey to Victoria.
While the Regossa’s have only been here for just over one year, they are settling in nicely and have recently added a dog to their family.