Istanbul Shipyard has Enhanced its Power in Domestic and International Markets

Rebuilt and redeveloped over the past decade, Istanbul Shipyard is now fully modernised and has been awarded contracts for some extremely technologically advanced customers.

The Turkish shipyard was actually founded in the 1980s, however, it wasn’t until 2003 when under the flag of SNR Holding, the name Istanbul Shipyard was created and the work and interest at the yard increased and diversified. With the creation of ABS Metal in 2006, and with the participation of Yildirim Shipyard (a neighbour also under the SNR Holding structure), Istanbul Shipyard covers a total area of 34,500m². It boasts six slipways for new shipbuilding and space for maintenance and repair of up to 14 vessels thanks to its 120m floating dock, three piers and wharf space.

“Istanbul Shipyard offers its customers design, outfitting, new building, maintenance, repair and conversion on any kind of vessel,” boldly claims General Manager Mr Tayfur Arasli. 

Setting the Shipyard Apart

“Istanbul Shipyard is the most visionary and proactive shipyard in the market,” declares Mr Arasli. He also believes that the company is ahead of other shipyards within the market by “projecting its development plans much more effectively than its competitors.”

Istanbul Shipyard is a boutique shipyard with its own design company and state-of-the-art applications. Istanbul Shipyard which aims to develop its productivity is one of the exceptional shipyards, performing inspections during every step of production, quality, occupational health-safety measures, with its environment-friendly principles and having ISO 9001, OHSAS 18001, ISO 14001, Ministry of Defence and NATO Level Facility Security Clearance Certificates.

In 2011, the company started the second part of its large scale reconstruction. A new nine floor administration building was built in addition to two prefabrication workshops, a blasting and painting workshop and a piping workshop to help the shipyard cope with recently awarded projects.

Istanbul Shipyard has carry out significant Turkish Naval Project

One of those recently acquired projects is the supply of the one Submarine Rescue Mother Ship and two Rescue and Towing ships for the Turkish Navy. The deal was signed on October 28th 2011 between Istanbul Shipyard and the Undersecretariat for the Turkish Defence Industry. This was good news, not just for the yard, but according to Mr Arasli, for the Turkish economy as well as he explains: “The total industry participation and offset percentage of 65 per cent will enable the utilisation of Turkish industry through the acquisition of construction material and services as well as most of the systems to be integrated on the ships.” 

The award of the Seismic Research Vessel Project, on April 24th 2012, guarantees more work for the yard and its contractors, with a 50 per cent Turkish participation agreed on this particular project for the General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration. 

To go through the intricacies of the project, Mr Arasli explains: “The Seismic Research Vessel project is another critical milestone in our ship building process. The vessel will carry out other scientific studies in addition to seismic research; it will be a multi-purpose vessel. Two and three dimensional seismic research capabilities will give scientists the opportunity to perform geophysical, geotechnical, bathymetric, hydrographical, oceanographic, and hydro-acoustic research. They will also be able to carry out sampling studies in the fields of earthquakes, general geology, applied geology, environmental geology, and earth sciences. In order to realise these activities, the ship will be equipped with streamers, air guns, seismic processing units, seismic record units, seismic navigation units, sub bottom profiler, marine magnetometer, marine gravimeter, oceanographic measurement equipment, geological sampling equipment, and ROV.”

According to Mr Arasli, the production and delivery of the world’s highest technological Submarine Rescue Mother Ship and Turkey’s first Seismic Research Vessel is the company’s greatest challenge.

After completing the modernization of 4 ship sets of SAR 35 Search and Rescue Boats successfully Istanbul Shipyard has recently been awarded with the contract for Modernization of 5 ship sets of SAR 33 Search and Rescue Boats for the Turkish Coast Guard. The contract has been signed with the Turkish Undersecretariat of Defence Industry on January 16th 2013. Within the scope of the project the modernization of the main propulsion system, hull, auxiliary engines/generator sets and auxiliary systems will be realized.

The Old Order Book

With 160 permanent employees, a steel processing capacity of 25,500 tonnes annually, not to mention its subcontractor network, and shiny new facilities, Istanbul Shipyard has completed work on a varied scope of contracts for international customers.

During 2007 and 2008 two 5700 DWT IMO-II stainless steel chemical tankers were successfully constructed, followed by two offshore support and research vessels for a Norwegian company. In 2009 four Turkish Coast Guard SAR-35 boats were, according to Mr Arasli, “delivered before the agreed time with a higher performance than the requirements of the modernization agreement” and with another successful contract five SNR-17 Patrol Boats for the Romanian Border Police were delivered in just 10 months in July 2010.

Developing for the Future

Under the SNR Holding Group, Istanbul Shipyard has a design office of around 45 employees, “including the most experienced designers in the sector,” according to Mr Arasli. “Most of the projects, including the most complicated current projects, are completely designed by our own team. They are able to design any kind of vessel.”

The design team, along with other integral figures at the yard, has set their sights on what Mr Arasli describes as a “visionary project”. The project called Milper is Istanbul Shipyard’s attempt at designing its very own uniquely designed propeller, produced with only Turkish expertise.

So what’s next for Istanbul Shipyard? As with a lot of its recent projects, when it comes to the future, Mr Arasli is also thinking big. “Our vision is to become the most preferred shipyard in the world for marine vessels built with the highest standards and equipped with high-tech systems, with continuous improvement in engineering, production quality and customer satisfaction, supplying the necessary information, technology and material from national resources as much as possible”.