Eregli Shipyard officially opened by Prime Minister Erdogan
Speaking at the opening ceremony of Eregli Shipyard; Prime Minister Erdogan pointed out that Turkey has gained a historical momentum in maritime sector. ???Those who build whatever but something would have our greatest respect??? he added.
R. Hakan Sen; President of Med Group submitting a plaque to Prime Minister Erdogan.
Erdogan: "We will continue to support the maritime sector"
Prime Minister Erdogan; at the opening speech, stated that Turkey has gained a momentum in the maritime field which matches with her historical mission. Erdogan; added the following:
'Every other day Turkey lives another opening excitement. This picture shows that Turkey takes the opportunities in the best possible way. On this purpose, we will continue to provide all our support to this sector. Those who build whatever but something will have our greatest respect'
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, accompanied by Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim, participated to the opening ceremony of Eregli Shipyard of Med Group, which is positioned within the Shipyards Area Project. The Shipyard is at the Cengelburnu position of Guluc district of Zonguldak Province.
Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan voiced his passion, excitement and happiness for participating to the opening ceremony of Eregli Shipyard which he cited as ???magnificent???.
Erdogan pointed out that Turkey has gone a long way in the recent 3,5 years in taking her position in the modern world. Erdogan, stated the following:
???In the recent period, we have been working extremely hard. The fruits of this hard work are now being received. In the maritime sector, too, Turkey will take the rank which she deserves. We say that we are surrounded by the seas on our three sides, but can not take benefit of this position. We noticed that there are some steps which should be taken by the government. We are also working in order to increase our share worldwide at this important sector. The most important issue at the maritime sector used to be the costs of fuel. We took initiative aiming to reduce the fuel costs. When I was the Mayor in Istanbul; I initiated seabus lines to the nearby provinces. Despite my demands; I could not obtain low cost fuel at that time. When we started our working at the Government, we initiated to lover the heavy burden of taxes in the fuel costs. By this regulation the fuel costs dropped by 60 percent. We provided exception to the users in the maritime sector from the Extra Consumption Tax (OTV) . We dropped the port dues too. Therefore, there has been a total 50 percent increase in the maritime transportation within the last 2 years. I participated to many shipyard openings in the recent years. Turkey has gained a momentum which matches to her historical mission. Every other day Turkey lives another opening excitement. This picture shows that Turkey takes the opportunities in the best possible way. On this purpose, we will continue to provide all our support to this sector. Those who build whatever but something will have our greatest respect. Development of maritime sector will provide great support to this country. This shipyard will provide great support to Eregli, where 2,5 million tons of steel being produced. Most of our shipyards has filled to capacity until 2010-2015. We are working with passion and dedication in order to find solutions to the problems. Wa are walking to an enlightened future altogether. There is no doubt that the future is ours, if only provided that we continue to stand together, then nobody can hardly be Able to damage us.???
Saying that Turkey has a coast line in 8400 Kilometers of length, Prime Minister pointed out the importance of distributing the shipyards equally along the whole coastline.
After his speech; Prime Minister Erdogan opened the shipyard together with Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim.
Amongst the other participants of opening ceremony were AKP Istanbul Deputy Cengiz Kaptanoglu, Maritime Undersecretay Ismet Yilmaz, General Director of Shipbuilding and Shipyards Sami Kabas, President of Shipbuilding Industry Association (GISBIR) Kenan Torlak, President of Besiktas Shipping Ihsan Kalkavan, President of Ambarli Towage and Pilotage Inc. Altan Koseoglu, President of Maritime Pilotage Inc. (DEKAS) Aykut Erol and many other guests.
Eregli Shipyard: The biggest shipyard of Turkey.
Eregli shipyard is completed in about approximately 18 months from scratch. Taking into account that the shipyard area had to be reclaimed from the sea, the size of the challenge becomes more obvious.
The shipyard facilities consist of 17.000 sqm of covered high ceiling workshop areas with overhead cranes, 3200 sqm of Office, dining, social facilities and en-suite rooms in three fully climatised high tech buildings. The 2 slipways of 220m L x 38m W being the biggest ever built so far in Turkey is capable of accomodating handymax or even panamax size new buildings that are impossible in Tuzla shipyard zone.
The total area of the shipyard is 160.000 sqm , one of the biggest in Turkey yet the biggest in terms of slipway capacity. The steel processing capacity is 25.000 tonnes per year. The shipyard is self sufficient in many ways from having its shopblasting and priming facilities to all the way to finishing processes.
It is envisaged that with full capacity shipyard will employ 1200 people excluding subcontractors for outfitting and similar Works.
The aim of the shipyard is to build turnkey vessels like chemical tankers, containerships, multi-purpose vessels, product tankers, lpg tankers, supply vessels, tugboats and alike.
Right now, there are 5 chemical tankers under construction. Three of them are 7,000dwt and 2 of them are 11,240dwt. Apart from those, there are 6 tugboats under construction , 3 of them are 22.5m /40tbp and 24m/40 tbp. their delivery is due june 2006.Three tugboats of 32m/55-60tbp were recently delivered to KOTUG. By the end of May ,2006 ; a 6 unit Project of 32m/70tbp will be started. These tugs are Robert Allen design ASD tugs.These projects are all on Med group???s own account.
Eregli Shipyard is owned by Med Group which has vast experience in shipbuilding.
Med Marine was established in 1996. Since then growing steadily and now successfully operating all over the world in the field of towage, pilotage, salvage/ wreck removal, ship escort, chartering and ship-building areas with its over 300 experienced marine staff.
Med Marine is operating a fleet of tugs ranging from BHP 1920 to BHP 5500 all built at Turkish Shipyards by Med Marine, except M/Tug "Ocean Ergun".
Ten of the tugs are harbour tugs having approximately 30 tons bollard pull capacity, all being engaged in in-port towing operations at Izmit and Iskenderun Bays.
Med Marine is offering services to its clients on time-charter, long-term bareboat charter and voyage charter basis.
Building tug boats, mooring boats, aluminium pilot boats and tankers Med Marine is serving its clients in new building harbour and ocean going sea craft.
Med Marine is a member of European Tugowners Association since 1997 and a member of BIMCO since 2000.
In addition, Med Marine was awarded ISO 9001 certification in January 2004 by BVQI and received ISM certification from Bureau Veritas in July, 2002. The company???s philosophy and target is to provide excellent and comprehensive service 365 days in a year and 24 hours in a day to all of its clients.
(Exclusive for www.turkishmaritimenews.com)