The state government created a task force, through the Secretariat of Economic Development (SDE), to enable the reawakening of the sector of the Naval Industry in Bahia. The focus is the resumption of operation of the Enseada shipyard, installed and licensed in Maragojipe, in the Bahia Recôncavo. Only 5th generation in Brazil, with state-of-the-art technology and quality in productivity, the Enseada has already been a barn of opportunities and has employed more than 7,400 people, mostly from the Recôncavo. The intention is to attract investors and partnerships, as well as institutional support, so that the enterprise can generate jobs and income in the region.

The largest shipyard in the country, with an area of 1.6 million square meters, capable of processing 100 thousand tons of steel per shift / year and with the potential to generate 4 thousand jobs, promoted the territorial development of the Recôncavo at the peak of its operation , started in 2012. In order to have a cut from this past, Maragojipe's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in three years jumped from R $ 194 million to R $ 753 million, growing 272%. In addition, in the period from 2012 to 2015, more than 7 thousand companies were opened in the region, according to data from the Trade Board of Bahia (JUCEB). The shareholders that gave rise to the Enseada, at the time, invested R $ 3 billion in the venture. Today, the 35 employees packed at the yard keep the equipment at the industrial plant, located on the banks of the Paraguaçu River.

"We need to make this important asset operate.There is no one who is not aware of this scenario.This is an extremely high investment enterprise that has boosted the state's economy but suffered a setback due to the national oil and industry crisis. Our first step, as a government, is the construction of this forum of debate, to restructure this sector of our economy. There are conditions for a climate of hope and feasibility, because the technology and productive potential of the Shipyard are concrete facts, "he says. Luiza Maia, State Secretary for Economic Development.

The commitment to constitute the task force, or group of work, that will have to integrate other secretariats, occurred last Tuesday (5/9), during a visit of a delegation of SDE to the facilities of the Enseada Industria Naval. At the occasion, the company's president, Mauricio de Almeida, pointed out that the shipyard was prepared to build ships of high complexity and changed the scenery of the Bahia Recôncavo with the qualification of local labor.

"For four months, more than 100 members of the shipyard and residents of that locality were sent to Japan to be trained. Some of them lived from fishing and became specialists in shipbuilding. Today, many are working in shipyards in Rio de Janeiro, others in Rio Grande do Sul, that is, we export to other states a part of the skilled labor force, "says the president. Because of the crisis in the country, professionals who participated in the transfer of technology during their stay in Japan have not yet been able to relocate and, therefore, have returned to the traditional fishing activity.

Almeida also defends the policy of local content and the change of commercial position by the Brazilian government, at the national level: "The companies want to buy ships produced in Brazil at the price of the ships from China, except that the government subsidizes the industry there. How will a country achieve sovereignty if it does not have its strong industry? We believe in the Enseada, in the naval industry and we want to build in Bahia the ships that Brazil needs. "

"More than a shipyard, Enseada has become a large industrial complex and represents for Bahia the opportunity of investments, be they logistics terminals or manufacturing units with competitive advantages, high technology and industrial automation. All this, due to the overload of the port structure in the Baía de Todos os Santos, to have as a differential its strategic and privileged location, in sheltered waters, enabling the transportation of cargo by the maritime and road modalities ", differentiates Paulo Guimarães, Superintendent of Attraction and SDE Business Development.

Little by little, the Enseada is returning to the hope of returning to the activity. The shipyard has won a contract for maintenance of the Norbe VI drilling rig and awaits the bidding result, in which it competes, for the construction of four Brazilian Navy warships. "But that's still very little. We need to convince the country to manufacture its ships here. There is no way for the Enseada to run without orders, "Almeida reports.