Sandock Austral Shipyards

Sandock Austral Shipyards has a proud and illustrious history in the South African shipbuilding industry. The yard was established in 1960 by a ship building company called Barends. In 1973 the yard was taken over by another ship building company called Sandock Austral to commence a Naval Ship Building Program. During the 1980s Oceanco entered into an agreement with Dorbyl Marine in Durban, whereby the basic construction of these vessels would be performed in South Africa under the joint management control of Oceanco and Dorbyl. The yachts would then be transported to Holland for final finishing and sea trials.

This arrangement continued until 1995 when Dorbyl announced that it was to close its shipbuilding operations in the Durban area and that it would no longer be able to manufacture for Oceanco. Sandock Austral Shipyards (SAS) entered into negotiations with Dorbyl and Oceanco which resulted in the purchase of 11 hectare shipyard from Dorbyl. An agreement was reached between Oceanco and SAS whereby SAS would continue to manufacture the vessels for Oceanco on a dedicated supplier basis.