From a Small Office to Large-Scale Projects: Rimantas on Growing with MARINO

When Rimantas joined MARINO in 2018, the company looked very different. The office team consisted of just over 20 people, everyone worked side by side in a small space, and the working week often extended well beyond Friday.

Today, as Senior Project Manager, Rimantas works closely with clients and contributes to the development of new projects. Having witnessed several important stages of MARINO’s growth, he remembers how much responsibility the early years required from every person in the team.

When everyone handled more than one role

Rimantas still remembers his first day at MARINO. It was winter, with snow and freezing temperatures outside, while inside the small office the growing team was preparing for another busy week.

“In those days, we spent the week looking for new clients and the weekend preparing specialists for departure to project sites. Documents, transport and last-minute arrangements all had to be managed by the same small team.”

At the time, the company’s work focused mainly on two areas: metalwork and interior finishing. As MARINO grew, its scope expanded into shipbuilding, ship repair, industrial projects, offshore works and other technical fields.

According to Rimantas, this development did not happen through one decision. It came from taking on increasingly complex projects, building stronger teams and learning how to deliver at a much larger scale.

The project that changed the company’s scale

One of the most significant stages came before the pandemic, when MARINO specialists worked on the construction of two of the world’s largest cruise ships in Germany.

At the height of the project, around 300 MARINO specialists were working at the shipyard. The project continued for approximately a year and a half and required the company to manage recruitment, mobilisation, documentation, transport and project coordination on a scale it had not handled before.

“That was an important step for MARINO. It showed that we could organise a large team, maintain the required quality and support a complex international project over a long period. It gave us a strong foundation for the growth that followed.”

The experience gained during this period helped MARINO develop the operational capacity needed for larger shipbuilding and industrial scopes across Europe.

When several days make the difference

Scale is important, but Rimantas believes that the ability to react quickly is just as valuable.

He recalls a recent cruise ship repair project in Sweden, where a highly qualified team had to be selected and mobilised within several days. The work was technically demanding, the schedule was tight and there was little room for delay.

“The team came together, everyone took responsibility for their part and we completed the work successfully within a very short timeframe. Projects like this show what MARINO can do when experience, coordination and the right specialists come together.”

For clients, this capability means access not only to individual specialists, but to organised teams that can be prepared for a specific technical scope and mobilised within the required schedule.

Built through long-term commitment

Rimantas describes himself as someone who values stability and long-term commitment. Before joining MARINO, he spent 15 years with one company. Once he commits to a place and believes in its direction, he prefers to grow with it.

That approach has allowed him to see MARINO develop from a compact team focused on two main areas into an international group capable of supporting complex projects across shipbuilding, industry, construction and offshore sectors.

“The biggest advantage we have today is our scale. We can respond to a wide range of client needs, assemble teams for different technical scopes and take on projects that require both speed and significant capacity.”

The office is larger now, the project geography is broader and the teams are more specialised. Yet the principle Rimantas remembers from the early days remains relevant: when a project requires a fast response, people across the company come together and take responsibility for the result.