THE company behind a multi-million investment at Swansea's dry docks stressed it was busy looking for new contracts after laying off staff.
Swansea Drydocks Ltd's workforce is down to single figures to keep the site running and chase ship repair and dismantling contracts.
Concerns have been raised in some quarters about the sharp drop in numbers, from some 75 in April.
But a spokesman for Swansea Drydocks said a fluctuating workforce was par for the course in the industry, with everything depending on how full the dry dock was at any given time.
"The company has had to lay people off in the short term because the market in ship repairs is a volatile market," he said.
Keeping people on with no ships to repair or dismantle "was not a viable proposition", he added.
And he said the situation could change quickly for the better.
"I would love to have a full dry docks for the whole year," said the spokesman, who asked the Post not to name him. "In this day and age it's not like that.
"We are actively seeking work."
The company had a promising start to 2013, with seven ships docked by April compared to nine during the whole of 2012.
One of the jobs was a six-figure repair and spruce-up of 17,500-tonne P&O ferry, Norbank.
Swansea Drydocks repairs and dismantles vessels, with repairs making up the bulk of the contracts thus far.
The firm ploughed some £5million into the site to get it ready for action. It gained consent to use the dry docks following a planning inquiry in November 2010. Swansea Drydocks' owner, Dunn Brothers, has a lease of 20-plus years with port owners Associated British Ports for the site, which mainly comprises two dry docks and a floating repair at Phoenix Wharf. It has previously said it hoped to attract clients including the Ministry of Defence.
