History

THE FAMILY´S ORIGINS

Francisco, “Gondán”

Francisco Díaz Fernández was born in 1855 in a small village in Lugo called Gondán, a name that would become his nickname in the years to come.

At a very young age, almost still a child, he began working as an apprentice shipwright at La Linera, in Castropol. At his shipyard, a significant part of the Asturian merchant fleet of that time was launched.

Years later, after completing military service, he emigrated to Montevideo, Uruguay. He lived there until 1886 when, at thirty-one years old and with fifteen thousand pesetas in his pocket, he decided to return to Spain.

Upon arrival, he settled at the Berbesa homestead and started doing what he knew best: building and repairing boats. With this work, he barely managed to support his family.

Argentina: round trip

In 1919, Francisco Díaz Martínez, with only forty pesetas — the cost of the passage — set off for Buenos Aires.

Several difficult years passed until his uncle Evaristo helped him join the military dockyard at Puerto Belgrano. Despite being only seventeen years old, he achieved the position of master carpenter, proving the high professional level he had reached under his father’s

THE FOUNDATION

Warming up the engines: the birth of a shipyard

Around 1923, some shipowners from Rinlo (Ribadeo, Lugo) asked Francisco ’Gondán’ senior to install an American-made engine in one of their traditional fishing boats, known as traineras. The complexity of the operation led him to decline the offer. However, Gondán’s son studied the matter carefully and proposed a satisfactory solution.

The idea of motorizing a fishing vessel marked a key milestone in the industry and increased young Francisco’s prestige. It also expanded the workload, making the expansion of the shipyard’s capacity an urgent need. It was then that he decided to acquire a plot of land at the mouth of the Santiago River, in Figueras (Castropol), which had a sloped dock and deep waters. It was there that he undertook the construction of the new shipyard.

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE SHIPYARD

During the early years, the company focused on the construction of wooden fishing and recreational boats. The progressive increase in orders led to the need to expand material and human resources, but two non-negotiable conditions were established when choosing the commitments: quality and speed.

The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) slowed down the shipyard’s activity, although it was not interrupted.

During the 1940s, land and machinery were acquired and the facilities were extended, which allowed production capacity to be increased.

STEEL
CONSTRUCTION

The Third Generation

In 1960, Francisco Díaz Madarro, Francisco’s second son and naval engineer, took over the management of the shipyard. A new era marked by growth and modernization began, especially with the incorporation of materials such as steel into the hulls of the ships.

By the late 1960s, a continuous series of steel ships was built. The first of these was the Monte Hacho; the last, in 1969, was the Segundo Río Sil.

DIFFICULT TIMES
AND NEW
OPPORTUNITIES

Crisis, industrial reconversion and export

The 1970s began with the good results of the previous decade, with ninety vessels being built, all of them round stern trawlers.

A NEW STAGE

Looking back with hindsight, we can proudly observe that a small family business, in an eminently rural environment, has become a global benchmark.

A period of modernization

In 1987, Alvaro Platero Díaz — grandson of the founder, Francisco Díaz Martínez, ‘Gondán’ — joined the company and began to take on progressively greater responsibilities.

When Francisco died in 1995, he left Alvaro a solvent company with a highly qualified workforce, but with obsolete facilities and equipment. Platero, now as president, general manager and majority shareholder, faced a double objective: the modernization of all aspects of the company (material, human, strategic and organizational) and expansion into the international market.

This modernisation took the form of multiple investments and improvements::

• Installation of cranes, the largest of their kind in Europe
• Construction of new halls
• Installation of new electrical transformers
• Closure and filling of the dock to enlarge the working area
• Increase of the capacity of the main slipway
• Construction of an internal road
• Creation of a production centre in the Barres industrial estate

FIBRE ARRIVES

The Fibre Division was created in 2009 in response to the market’s interest in a system that allows great flexibility and has important advantages in terms of comfort, cost and production agility.

En 1987, Alvaro Platero Díaz –nieto del fundador, don Francisco Díaz Martínez, “Gondán”– se incorpora a la empresa y comienza a asumir progresivamente mayores responsabilidades.

This division focuses its activity on the construction of passenger vessels and fast boats made of different resins and types of fiber (glass, carbon or Kevlar, among others). This activity is carried out by means of a manual process performed by expert laminators, trained by the company itself.

…and we keep sailing

We are celebrating our anniversary: 100 years! Few companies in the world can boast such a long history.
Since Francisco Díaz Martínez founded Astilleros Gondán S.A. back in 1925, we have built over 400 ships, faced hundreds of challenges, and lived through thousands of stories. And we continue to grow, adapting to the needs of a changing world and looking forward with enthusiasm to the new challenges that the future holds.