Q4 2025
Olivier Dumolin is not just a fantastic project coordinator; he’s a planner and publicist who perfectly demonstrates IGY’s multi-skilled approach to customer service. Here, he gives an insight into his high-pressure job and explains the challenges of establishing Sète Marina as a world-class shipyard.
You manage dozens of international contractors working on complex projects to tight deadlines. This would fill most people with dread. Can you explain your day-to-day tasks and how you keep everything running smoothly?
I manage the work carried out on the yachts. I am responsible for the contractors doing servicing and maintenance in our in-water shipyard. They come from different countries, such as the Netherlands and Germany, and I have to coordinate everyone.
Our biggest project had 40 different contractors and more than 100 people working on the yacht. When managing a project like this, we have to be really precise with our planning and provide immediate updates. It’s very difficult.
How do you select and manage contractors?
For big projects, the yacht management team or shipbuilder sends their own service providers and we help them complete the work in terms of logistics and dividing up tasks. For other projects, we provide our own contractors who are the best-skilled workers for the job. We have eight contractors who specialise solely in stainless steel, for example.
Every request is different. Sometimes it starts with just an idea, so we help them find the best way to achieve this in accordance with best practice. Other times, we have very specific requests and to meet these requests, we have to provide the highest-skilled suppliers in each speciality. For one project – a complete deck refresh – we managed three contractors, one for each deck, all with different skills, to optimize the scheduling and divide the working time by three. We also provide charter services at Sète, and we take care to treat contractors with the same care and attention as we do for guests or owners.
What’s your biggest challenge?
Publicising our services to all yachts cruising the Mediterranean. The technical part is not so difficult – I have 30 years of experience managing planning, so it’s easy for me to manage 40 contractors. The challenge is getting people to come. We are very new here in Sète. Agents and chief engineers may know IGY, but they don’t know the in-water shipyard services we provide here, so we have to push every service. I make sure we provide information on each item to explain what we provide.
What do you most enjoy? 
Coming up with solutions and delivering projects. You always have a surprise along the way, but it’s very satisfying when we find a solution and we get positive feedback from the crew, and more importantly, the contractor. One of my best skills is communication. When we were doing a survey of a superstructure, one of the safety lines was lost, and I was contacted by WhatsApp. Five seconds later, we sent someone round to help. The best thing is to contact me even when I am not on board. I am very responsive. We are here 12 months a year, 24/7. If a yacht arrives only for the weekend, we find a contractor to work on it that weekend and finish the job. We keep to the deadline.
Despite its strategic position in the South of France, between Barcelona and the Côte d’Azur, Sète is largely undiscovered. Is this beginning to change?
Sète is a wonderful place, but still relatively unknown among captains. One captain arriving here asked if we could show him where he was on Google Maps. While they may not know Sète when they arrive, they ask us not to tell anyone about it when they leave because they don’t want everyone to come. When they stay, they love it!
Last summer, all the charter yachts that visited in July came back in August, and one yacht that visited in May, came back in June, July and September. What makes Sète interesting is that it is an island. You walk across a bridge from the marina to the town centre with all the shops and restaurants. There’s a lot to do here, and we’ve just had a four-day water jousting tournament. The crew all love this place, and the captains too.
Where did you grow up and what did you do before joining IGY?
I was born in Arras in the north of France. I originally chose to work inland. I was a project manager for a hospitality company, among others, and I managed the installation of restaurant galley kitchens. I then moved to the coast and became a project manager for various shipyards for 15 years, before joining IGY in April 2023.
When did you discover your love of the sea?
I’ve always been into sailing, which I have been doing since I was 10 years old. I used to do a lot of match racing and I’ve also raced in seven French Championships, visiting all the ports in France.
What are you most proud of?
Keeping to a deadline. We know how long projects take. We do a lot of work at the qualification stage, and when the yachts arrive, we certify that we can keep to the deadline. We specialise in short-term work of four to five weeks for yachts up to 150m, so it’s important to be clear about deadlines.
We always provide a five-star service, because when superyachts leave IGY Sète shipyard, they go to another IGY marina for charter or owner trips, especially Trident members. We therefore cannot afford to have dissatisfied captains. We combine a high-end service offering with a high level of technical expertise.
We are well-positioned for super and mega yachts coming to and from the Caribbean and navigating the Mediterranean, and I’m proud to say we had a 100m yacht visit us three times over 14 months. The first stopover is more challenging to get them to understand how it works, but it becomes easier.
How do you enjoy your downtime?
I relax with the family – with my wife and three children. I live near the marina and cycle or walk to work, and I like to play golf.
If you had access to any yacht in the world for two weeks, where would you go and what would you do?
I would go to the Caribbean and I would cruise the southern Caribbean, Martinique and down to Grenada.
