CARENA

The company CARENA (Compagnie Abidjanaise de Réparation Navale) was incorporated on July 30, 1953 as a limited liability company.
It was created by the will of the leaders of two companies, ACMA (Ateliers & Chantiers Maritimes of Abidjan) belonging to the Duchesne & Brossière and Sofia Groups, and ACAF (Workshops & Chantiers de l'Afrique Française) which later became ACCI ( Workshops & Chantiers du Côte d'Ivoire) belonging to the Delmas-Vieljeux group.
CARENA resumed the naval activities that its two partners were competing with, namely new construction (ships and barges) and ship repair.
Messrs. Jacques TESSANDIER and Gilbert FOURNIER for ACMA and Mr Tristan VIELJEUX for ACCI, decided to join forces by creating a joint subsidiary held at 50% by each of the aforementioned companies, thus allowing the regrouping of their reciprocal activities. Messrs Gilbert FOURNIER and Tristan VEILJEUX were the first co-managers.
The first General Manager, a graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique, was André Bourdel (1959 to 1975), a true pioneer who had practically created ACMA and then CARENA.
Established on its current site since its creation, CARENA has completed its infrastructure throughout its course by acquiring a first dock of 2,000 T in 1972, then a larger dock of 10,000 T in 1983.
In 1991, the Bolloré Group became a 50% shareholder in CARENA through its acquisition of the Delmas-Vieljeux Group.