Vard, a subsidiary of the Fincantieri Group, has offered the use of its facilities in Romania to the local government as temporary housing for Ukrainian refugees.
Two buildings at the shipyard's Tulcea location have been freed up to accommodate up to 250 refugees from the Odessa region in the southwest of the country.
"The accommodations offered are usually used by the workers of the plant and have basic necessities such as heating and linen, as well as basic services," the shipyard explained. "In addition to these, laundry areas and prefabricated external modules for kitchen use will also be made available."
Vard also agreed that food and medical assistance will be provided. The news follows a slew of businesses in the superyacht industry offering support to those impacted by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Elsewhere, some of the industry's biggest brokerage firms have been working to organise and coordinate donations for the millions of refugees displaced by the war in Ukraine. Fraser has been leading the movement in Monaco with the support of Edmiston, IYC, Ocean Independence, Northrop & Johnson, Y.CO and Yachtzoo in the collection of blankets and bedding, sleeping bags and tents, warm clothing, toothbrushes, sanitary products and non-perishable food.
The initiative was started by Ewa Petts, chief financial officer of SuperYachts Monaco, and Ian Petts, head of yachting and aviation at Equiom Group. Together with Marcela de Kern of Onboard Monaco and other members of the community, the team have been instrumental in organising the collections and securing drivers to take donations to the Ukrainian-Polish border.
De Kern initially reached out to her network via social media. "I was completely overwhelmed. We were able to collect a couple over 500 boxed in two days," she said. "It is incredible how the yachting community has been able to get together and help." In the last week, several truckloads of donations have been sent to the Polish border and the collections are continuing at Fraser's Monaco office.
Raphael Sauleau, chief executive of Fraser, wrote on LinkedIn: "We are going through some dark times and whilst the world is holding its breath hoping for an end to this conflict - our thoughts are for the many Ukrainian and Russian crew members sailing around the world."
Outside of Monaco, other yachting hubs such as The Genoa Superyacht Hub have followed suit and have been encouraging crew members, local employees and suppliers to send their donations to the Genoa collection hub located next to the marina. Goods collected are then sent to Ternopil in Western Ukraine and distributed by local charities.
Other companies taking a stand against the conflict include Italian shipyard Sanlorenzo, which has made a "significant" donation to the Confindustria La Spezia. "Our thoughts go out to the victims, their families, and all those suffering as a result of this unbearable situation. With the intention of doing something concrete, we have decided to support the praiseworthy initiative with a significant donation," the yard said.
Meanwhile, a Facebook group named Yachties For Ukraine was set up by Petra Untea, founder of crew consultancy Vibrant Yachting, as a forum for yacht crew to share useful information and advice with those affected by the conflict, as well as details of donation drop-off points and available accommodation to house refugees.