Colombo Dockyard to Invest in Other Ports in Sri Lanka. Delivers $26mn Platform ROV Support Vessel Greatship Rohini to Fugro Brazil

10th February 2011, www.dailynews.lk, By Harshini Perera

Ship building is a volatile industry but there is an optimistic sentiment about the industry in the future.

Colombo Dockyard PLC will invest in expanding to other ports in the country, Colombo Dockyard PLC Chairman, Akihiko Nakauchi told Daily News Business. He was speaking after christening a newly built ship Greatship Rohini yesterday.

There will be new investments forwarded in line of machines, cranes and equipment in the future such as metal cutting machines and compressors in 2012.

The other ports in the country too should be equipped with sufficient latest facilities for the Dockyard to establish.

“Middle East, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Indonesia and Vietnam are some of our competitors.

Colombo Dockyard PLC will be concentrating on servicing clients from Europe and the Middle East in the future,” the Chairman said. “Changes in people’s attitudes, approaches to business and productivity has to be addressed in developing the ship building industry in the country.

Without implementing these components adding infrastructure will not create a great economy. It proves that an individual company such as Colombo Dockyard PLC can reach international standards in catering to the international market as we have done today,” Colombo Dockyard PLC Managing Director and CEO Mangala P B Yapa said.

The vessel, Greatship Rohini can be used for oil exploration in the deep sea and the vessel is enabled to perform multi-tasks such as welding, opening of valves and repairs in Fugro Brazil, an oil and gas exploration company. The vessel will directly sail to Brazil next week for this purpose.

The value of the vessel is around US $ 26 million and the total aggregated value of the order Greatship Group of Companies placed with Dockyard is closely US $ 240 million.

A total of eleven vessels are to be delivered by Colombo Dockyard PLC under the agreement with Greatship Group of Companies. “Another vessel enabled with Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) will be completed at early March and two 80 tonne anchor handlers are yet to be delivered to Greatship Group of Companies.

The Greatship Anjalee, is the first creation by Colombo Dockyard PLC and eleven vessels will be completed at the end of the agreement. It is the largest order given by the Greatship Building Company for a single company,” Yapa said.

There will be many opportunities for Colombo Dockyard PLC from Brazil to use Sri Lankan made vessels for oil exploration in the future as well. Brazil is one of the best deep water oil exploration markets with latest technological equipment. Colombo Dockyard PLC expects to bring in more investments to Sri Lanka on sophisticated vessels in the future.

Image: Economic Development Minister Basil Rajapaksa is directed by Dockyard PLC Managing Director and CEO Mangala P B Yapa to the seventh vessel built by Colombo Dockyard. The completed ship was christened Greatship Rohini. Picture by Sumanachandra Ariyawansa.

Related Info :
• Sri Lanka Dockyard Wins Contract for Two Multipurpose Platform Supply Vessels (MPSVs) for Greatship Global Offshore Services of Singapore

• Colombo Dockyard Delivers 2nd Passenger Vessel to Administration of Union Territories of Lakshadweep, India

Research Vessel for Sri Lanka's Marine Research Agency. NARA Technical College to be Upgraded to Ocean University

22nd January 2011, www.lankabusinessonline.com

Sri Lanka's state marine research agency will buy a survey and research vessel from Taiwan to deepen knowledge and also upgrade a technical college to 'ocean university' status, a government minister said.

The state National Aquatic and Research Agency (NARA) had been given the nod by the cabinet of minister to purchase a research vessel for 313 million rupees, minister Anura Yapa said.

The vessel has capacity to conduct hydrography, oceanography and marine biology research.

"The research vessel to NARA will enhance survey activities in these field," minister Yapa said.

The government is also making the National Institute of Fisheries and Nautical Engineering into a full degree awarding status 'Ocean University'.

The cabinet of minister had given approval to draft new legislation to upgrade the college.

Sri Lanka is laying claim to extra sea area under international conventions. The end of a 30-year war had also opened up opportunities to increase marine activities.

Mothership Supplying Sri Lanka's Multi-Day Fishing Boats Improves the Catch

13th November 2010, www.dailynews.lk, By Chamikara Weerasinghe

A mother ship from China with built in freezers, refrigerated sea water (RSW) system, Chilled Water System (SWM), fuel and food storage facilities will arrive in the country before the end of the month.

The vessel is being built in China at a cost of Rs 160 million. Over 95 percent work of the ship has already been completed.

Once the vessel is deployed to conduct mother ship operations such as providing fuel, food, and other supplies to deep sea-based fishing fleets in the sea , it can have a major impact on fish production and prices. Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Minister Dr Rajitha Senaratna yesterday said the Ministry expects to bring the vessel at the end of this month.

The Minister has sent a Port Authority engineer to China to inspect the vessel. The vessel made in China will be the first mother ship to be launched.

The Ministry plans to introduce another to the fleet, the Minister said. "The manufacturing of the second ship will be given to the Ceynor Foundation," he said.

The Ministry will spend Rs 360 million for the vessels.

Ministry's Technical Director General Indra Ranasinghe said there are about 3,000 multi-day boats in the country of which 70 percent are operating.

Each of these vessels spend about Rs 500,000 for a trip of one or one and half months in the sea.

They will be able to cut the fuel costs by obtaining fuel from the mother ship at sea rather than having to return to land.

The fishermen will be able to stay three to five months at sea at a stretch as they can get supplies of fuel and food to their boats at the sea, which means they can increase their fish collections by several fold.

Their operational costs on fishing trips will be much less with the mother ship providing fuel, food and other items.

The fishermen will also be able to transfer their catch from their boats to the mother ship.

"These are advanced systems that can preserve the quality of their fish collection. The consumers will get quality fish as a result," Ranasinghe said.

The mother ship can also keep the fishermen informed about areas where the density of fish schools are high, and prevent them from hopelessly hanging around in the sea, he added.

Colombo Dockyard Delivers 2nd Passenger Vessel to Administration of Union Territories of Lakshadweep, India

29th October 2010, www.lankabusinessonline.com

Sri Lanka's Colombo Dockyard delivered the second of a pair of passenger vessels for an Indian customer but warned profitability could dip this year owing to the effects of recession and growing competition.

Managing director Mangala Yapa said the yard's order book for new buildings was full but it faced tough competition especially from Chinese yards in the repair business.

Yapa said he was confident the yard would do well this year too having had sales of 12 billion rupees and profits of two billion last year.

"Now we're experiencing tough competition from Chinese yards," he said in a speech to flag off the new vessel.

"There could be some drop in profitability because of the competitive nature of the market."

The yard , which books profits on vessel delivery, Thursday delivered the second of a pair of passenger craft for India's Lakshadweep islands.

The vessel, which can carry 250 passengers and 100 tonnes of cargo, was built for the Administration of Union Territories of Lakshadweep and is named Lakshadweep Sea.

She set sail from Colombo port to join her sister vessel, Arabian Sea, which was delivered in January 2010 and will operate between the Indian mainland ports like Cochin and the Lakshadweep island, as well as in the inter-island routes.

Colombo Dockyard said the vessels were the biggest hulls built by the yard and are meant for operation in all weathers.

Passengers have different categories of accommodation on the vessels, with two VIP cabins, 10 first class, 40 second class and 200 normal class passenger transportation facilities. All passenger compartments are fully air conditioned using an air conditioning system.

Yapa said that peace has given a fillip to the yard's marketing efforts and helped win new customers.

"The emergence of peace and stability has helped us expand our marketing activities."

The yard this signed signed a deal to build two offshore oil platform supply vessels for a Singapore customer.

"In ship repair too we were able to attract many new clients particularly from Europe and the Far East who had been reluctant to come to Colombo earlier because of the war."

The island's 30-year ethnic war ended in May 2009 leading to the removal of marine war-risk insurance advisories and faster economic growth.

Related Info:
Sri Lanka Dockyard Wins Contract for Two Multipurpose Platform Supply Vessels (MPSVs) for Greatship Global Offshore Services of Singapore

Sri Lanka's Colombo Dockyard Delivers Supply Vessel to Singapore's Greatship Global Offshore Services

Sri Lanka Dockyard Wins Contract for Two Multipurpose Platform Supply Vessels (MPSVs) for Greatship Global Offshore Services of Singapore

28th October 2010, www.lankabusinessonline.com

Sri Lankan shipbuilder Colombo Dockyard has secure contracts for two 78-metre Multipurpose Platform Supply Vessels (MPSVs) for Greatship Global Offshore Services of Singapore, a statement said.

The vessels, to support offshore oil and gas fields around the clock, are scheduled for delivery in the fourth quarter of the 2012 financial year and the first quarter of 2013.

The yard, a unit of Japan's Onomichi Dockyard Company, did not disclose the price of the vessels, which are of 3,600 tonne deadweight capacity.

Greatship Global Offshore Services is a Singapore incorporated subsidiary of Greatship (India), which is a subsidiary of The Great Eastern Shipping Company.

The statement said Colombo Dockyard had already built two MPSVs to similar design.

The yard worked in collaborative consultation with the owners and Designer Seatech Solutions International of Singapore on the new vessels.

The new platform supply vessels have been designed to perform oil recovery functions as well, meeting the emerging needs of the industry and owners, the yard said.

"These vessels are designed for operating as advanced PSVs as well as light construction support vessels."

The vessels are capable of undertaking multi-purpose roles such as oil recovery, transportation of pipes, fresh water, diesel, methanol, bulk cement, stores, equipment, deck cargo, and transfer of materials between platforms and shore.

Colombo Dockyard also said the new vessels would be among the "greenest, eco-friendly vessels" ever to be built in the yard.

The vessels will be fully equipped with a ballast water management plan, be capable of treating water before discharge to the sea and have 'eco-friendly' refrigerant.

Related Info:
Sri Lanka's Colombo Dockyard Delivers Supply Vessel to Singapore's Greatship Global Offshore Services

Sri Lanka's Colombo Dockyard Delivers First of Four Multipurpose Platform Supply Vessels to Singapore

New Korean-Built 4255 TEU Container Vessel Named 'Zim Colombo'

21st December 2009, www.dailymirror.lk

ZIM Integrated Shipping Services (ZISS) has christened its new Korean-built 4255 TEU Container Vessel Zim Colombo and has deployed it into their East Mediterranean Express (EMX) Service, which touches Colombo on its west-bound and east-bound voyages.

ZISS offers 60 services to ports of call throughout Europe, the United States and Canada, Central and South America, Africa and Asia and it has established a particularly strong presence on routes between the Far East and the Caribbean, Mediterranean and China.

In addition, to meet the changing needs of a dynamic market, ZISS continuously expands and diversifies their geographic coverage and is currently strengthening their presence in developing regions, with a focus on the Far East, Former Soviet Union regions, South America and Africa.

According to their plans, two major ZISS services - ZIM Container Service (ZCS) and EMX - have already embarked on Super-Slow Steaming, a measure that would enable substantial fuel savings and significantly reduced CO2 and NOx emissions.

In pursuance of this endeavour, ZISS added a 4255 TEU vessel to each service, thus maintaining similar levels of service in terms of frequency and with only minor changes in transit times. Accordingly, ZCS deploys 16 vessels while EMX deploys 11 vessels in their operations.

Slow steaming is in line with ZISS's streamlining and savings efforts. ZISS is one of the first shipping companies whose owned fleet confirms to Environmental Management (ISO 14001) standards. The Super-Slow Steaming will reduce the CO2 and NOx emission drastically in these two lines and will support ZISS's persistent commitment to sustainability and environmental awareness.

A ceremony was held on board the vessel MV Zim Colombo, in celebration of her maiden voyage at the JCT of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), on her inaugural west-bound voyage on 17 December 2009.

To mark the significance of this move to the SLPA, plaques were exchanged between the Managing Director of SLPA Capt. Nihal Keppetipola and the Master of the Vessel Capt. Sergej Decenkov and the officials of Star Lanka Shipping, the local shipping agents.

Commenting on this new addition, SLPA Managing Director Capt. Nihal Keppetipola said: "We have attracted several new lines and services in recent months and this trend is a clear approbation by the liner community of the current customer-friendly marketing orientation and pragmatic policies of SLPA. This apart, our country has come to the threshold of an economic renaissance with peace dividend being invested on huge maritime-related infrastructure development projects."

"The christening of ZISS's new vessel as Zim Colombo is of great significance to Sri Lanka which fills us with pride, especially at a time when the green shoots of recovery from the global economic meltdown are appearing. This would make the Port of Colombo echo throughout the world, which is now well accepted as the regional hub port. I take this opportunity to wish ZISS and their local agent Star Lanka Shipping every success," he further said.

Image : Plaques are exchanged between the Managing Director of SLPA Capt. Nihal Keppetipola (third from right) and the Master of the Vessel Capt. Sergej Decenkov (fourth from right) while N. Ranchigoda - Director Star Lanka Shipping (fourth from left), Dillan Lawrence - Manager Star Lanka (first from right), Chief Operations Manager of SLPA G.A.Thalagala (second from right), Harbour Master of SLPA Capt. Ravi Jayawickrama (second from left), Dy. Chief Operations Manager of SLPA Jayantha Perera (third from left) and Dy. Chief Manager (Marketing and BD) of SLPA Upul Jayathissa (first from left) look on