2009 has been a very difficult year for all in the boating industry and Gemini Marine was not spared from the economic down turn. RIB project had come to a complete halt as customers across the board cut back on spending. Many shipyards we dealt with were in the verge of collapse. Whatever little enquires we received were treated with up most caution, fearing that subsequent collection might be a problem. Of all the business segments, leisure business was the hardest hit. New boats were not coming in and existing boat owners were not spending or using their boats as often.
Despite the slow down, we have achieved significant improvements in a few selected fields within our core businesses. Instead of building RIB, we responded to customers' demand to re-build their old RIB by making new tubes to replace worn out ones. Tube manufacturing was something unique that we were really good at. It became a viable business during the crisis due to the number of re-tubing jobs we got. It has greater export potential than building RIB so it has become our main engine of growth for the coming years.
Another area that we have done well was diesel engine servicing. Due to falling number of servicing assignments for Volvo Penta engines, we were forced to take on engines of other brands. We did a few Cummins, a few Yanmars and a lot of Kohler gensets. The experience we gained in these jobs were invaluable and definitely helpful in making us better mechanics in the long run.
The economic crisis had forced us to focus on things we do really well and we will work on being the market leader in these areas. The changes we made to cope with the hard times will make us emerge stronger than before. Fortunately, the worst seemed to be over and we should have a better year next.
We wish everyone a happy and better New Year ahead!
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