Neil Marine, among the largest boat manufacturers in Asia, has plans to start its Jaffna arm as soon as the A-9 road is completely opened, the company said. “We have an agent in Jaffna who is coordinating this (starting the operation) for us. We are looking for a land near the sea to set up the plant,” Neil Fernando, Chairman Neil Marine told the Sunday Times FT.
He said the company is planning to build medium sized fishing vessels at the proposed plant, adding that the capacity of the plant is still not finalised.
Mr. Fernando said the company is awaiting the full opening of the A-9 as it is difficult to transport some of the required equipment (from Colombo) to build the boats.
Meanwhile, the company’s outboard motors and marine engineering service facility in the Jaffna town has re-started business. “There is business now and the fishing industry is slowly picking up. D. Stephen Leonard, Managing Director New Lanka Traders, who are the agents for Neil Marine in Jaffna, said the moment the Army permitted fishing the industry kick started.
“We had a lot of restrictions earlier, but now there is a lot of fishing in the lagoon and certain deep sea areas,” he said.
He said the demand for boats as a result has now increased. Initially Neil Marine were catering to the local fisheries sector but have now exported their boats to foreign markets such as the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands and Norway.
Furthermore, the company has made inroads into new markets like the Maldives, the Seychelles, Persian Gulf Nations, and some African states.
To date Neil Marine has built over 38,000 boats of different types. These include fisheries research vessels, speed cruisers, luxury and surveillance crafts and fast attack craft that are used by Sri Lankan forces. Recently Neil Marine manufactured totally enclosed lifeboats that can be used by companies engaged in oil exploration. |
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