Colombo Dockyard to build two vessels for Iraqi Port
View(s):The Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC) on Tuesday laid the keel to auspiciously commence shipbuilding work on the 60 m Buoy Tender Vessel and the 50 m Twin Hull Catamaran hull Pilot Station Vessel for General Company for Ports of Iraq (GCPI) as per an agreement signed with Toyota Tsusho Corporation (TTC) of Japan.
TTC is the prime contractor of GCPI for this project and CDPLC is TTC’s preferred shipbuilder, CDPLC said in a media release.
This keel laying ceremony marked the commencement of hull construction work of the two vessels and the auspicious occasion was graced by Ms. Rajaa Habeeb Shallal Mandalawi – Ambassador/Charge D’ Affaires Head of Mission of the Embassy of Iraq; Akira Sugiyama -Ambassador of Japan in Sri Lanka; Chief Engineer Talib Abdullah Baeish – Asst. Director General/ Project Director of General Company for Ports of Iraq and Hideyuki Oiwa – Senior General Manager of TTC. In addition, a host of special dignitaries from GCPI, Nippon Koei, Japan International Cooperation Agency, ClassNK, Sri Lanka Ports Authority, Sri Lanka Navy, Board of Investment, Toyota Lanka, Standard Charted Bank, participated and offered their blessings for the project.
TTC and GCPI signed the contract on April 27, 2018 in Dubai for this project and subsequently TTC signed the Sub Contract Agreement with CDPLC as their preferred shipyard for the construction of these two vessels on May 2 in Japan. Since then the development of the basic design engineering and detailed design engineering took place and from now on, the project will take off the ground with the arrival of steel plates and sections ordered for this project.
“At a challenging time where there is not much of shipbuilding work taking place in the world due to the recession in the shipbuilding and shipping markets, CDPLC was fortunate to secure this shipbuilding contract, which will continue till the third quarter of 2020. This project also will be etched in Gold in the annals of shipbuilding history, as the first shipbuilding project from Sri Lanka to reach the Republic of Iraq, which has been one of Sri Lanka’s close allies for a number of decades,” the statement added.
Both the Pilot Station Vessel and the Buoy Tender Vessel will be constructed using modern technology and will be in accordance with latest rules and regulations of the maritime industry. Both vessels will be classed to Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK).
The Pilot Station Vessel is a twin hull Catamaran type vessel which will be used to transport pilots and provisions, to provide pilots with accommodation services and to provide station and necessary support for pilot boats. The Buoy Tender Vessel is designed to be operated to retrieve and launch marine navigation buoys, to provide repair and maintenance to marine navigation buoy, to transport marine navigation buoys and/or spare parts and to transport general cargo.