The book 'Shipyard Stories' highlights Turkey's shipbuilding legacy, showcasing engineers' resilience and achievements in the maritime sector.
The Hidden Heroes of the Turkish Shipbuilding Industry Have Been Documented
Under the leadership of the Ship and Yacht Exporters Association (GYHİB), the work titled 'Shipyard Stories,' brought to life with the significant contributions of GYHİB Board Chairman Başaran Bayrak and Meral Er, has met the maritime community. This work goes far beyond being a standard industry guide or statistics book; it records the memory of ship engineering shaped by Turkey's hard work, determination, and intuition.
From 'Why Build a Ship!' to the World's Fifth Place
Turkey's maritime and shipbuilding journey is rooted in a challenging past that underlies today's exports to more than 30 countries and the achievement of being the world's fifth largest. The book introduces readers to masters who achieved the impossible in the narrow spaces of the Golden Horn, shipyards that produced in the mud during the years when 'Why build a ship!' was questioned, and engineers who survived by grappling with bureaucracy and crises.
The book emphasizes that good engineering is not merely about making correct calculations; shipbuilding is a 'know-how' process conveyed through will, knowledge, labor, and the master-apprentice relationship. It reveals the reality that the contributions and sacrifices of thousands of workers, whose names are never mentioned in any book, lie behind the industry's journey to the present day.
Oral History Passed Down to Future Generations
The birth story of the book is based on moments when the industry's veterans came together. The project, whose foundations were laid at a ceremony held at Sedef Shipyard in September 2016, was shaped by the idea of İsmet Üner, the owner of Gemak Shipyard. During a meeting organized by GYHİB in 2017, the stories from the bags of the industry's elders sparked the idea that this valuable oral history should be transformed into a written document. The belief that Turkey, with its 600-year-old deep-rooted shipbuilding history, can only build a solid future by recording this history became the main motivation for the book.
The Journey of Over 30 Shipyards in One Work
'Shipyard Stories' contains detailed accounts of the establishment and survival struggles of more than 30 shipyards, reflecting traces from different periods of the industry across Turkey. Some of the shipyards and institutions whose stories are told in the work include:
Anadolu Shipyard (ADİK) – With its goals in the defense industry
Çelik Tekne and Çeliktrans Shipyards – Signatures etched into the silhouette of the Bosphorus
Gemak Group – Milestones and major struggles in the industry
Sanmar and Turquoise – Values that have turned Turkey into a global brand
Yıldız Shipyard (Dearsan) – The shining star of global yachting, the Malta Falcon
This work, which proves that history is written by learning from mistakes and not forgetting those who have paid the price, serves as a reference book for anyone interested in maritime history and for the engineers of the future.
Source: SeaNews Türkiye
