The earliest mention of a shipyard in Galați comes from a firman issued to Alexandru Lăpușneanu in the late 16th century, regarding the arming of some caïques constructed there.

[7] However, it was not until the late 1830s, following the establishment of a free port at Galați, that the bulk of its ships started being used domestically: seven vessels were built there in 1839, followed by ten in 1840.

[1] Also in 1907, four river monitors (NMS Ion C. Brătianu, Mihail Kogălniceanu, Alexandru Lahovari and Lascăr Catargiu) were commissioned for the Romanian Navy.

[9] In 1911, under the Premiership of Petre P. Carp, the area suffered some structural collapse, allegedly as a result of bad workmanship and political corruption (investigated by Nicolae Fleva on behalf of the Opposition).

Initially commanded by German captains, then replaced with Romanian crews, the submarines later fell to the Soviet Navy.

[11][12][13] From 1938 to 1944, Galați completed 65 civilian ships and 11 warships: in addition to the submarines and minelaying destroyer, these consisted of four motor torpedo boats (the Vedenia-class) and four minesweepers (the Democrația-class).

In 1974, the Communist regime made a massive investment into the shipbuilding industry, so that the yard became fully stocked with supplies, including an animal farm.

Noticing too that the boats left over from the Communist period were being reinforced, he decided to take control of the shipyard company's stock, which happened in 1999.

Although he wished to obtain 100% of the shares, he only managed to acquire 99%, the remainder being in the hands of unidentified individuals who received privatization vouchers in the 1990s.

[11] Galați is the largest naval shipyard on the Danube, its output ranging from large tankers to small coast guard patrol boats.

[16] For example, at the time of the takeover, spoons and coffee cups were listed in the inventory; afterwards, all items worth under $100 were considered disposable goods and no longer placed on the record books.