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Last month Colombo Dockyard, Sri Lanka’s leading shiprepair and building yard, celebrated its 44th anniversary, in a year that also marks the 25th anniversary of its collaboration with Onomichi Dockyard Company of Japan. The double celebration comes at a busy time for the yard, which has a number of notable newbuilding contracts, as well as a steady stream of ship repair work.
At present Colombo Dockyard is building a high technology Cable Laying Vessel for Kokusai Cable Ship Co. of Japan. This is designed for subsea operations, including the installation and repair of optical and power cables, and has a cable carrying capacity of 5000 tonnes. For the handling of power cables, the forward tank has been fitted with a carousel system with a spooling arm. Colombo Dockyard points out that the vessel has many special features, including low resistance hull lines designed for speed and low fuel consumption, and has a diesel-electric propulsion system.
In addition, Colombo Dockyard was recently contracted to build a specialised catamaran type Pilot Station Vessel and a Buoy Tender Vessel for the General Company for Ports of Iraq, through Toyota Tsusho Corporation of Japan. The Pilot Station Vessel is designed to perform multiple roles, including the transportation, supply and accommodation of pilots, and the provision of support to pilot boats, while the twin screw Buoy Tender Vessel is intended to retrieve and launch marine navigation buoys, and provide repair and maintenance to navigation aids.
The Colombo Dockyard’s ship repair business has also been steady this year, carrying out work for local as well as international owners. Recent visitors have included Desh Bakht and Samudra Ratnakar for the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), Lahore owned by Pakistan National Shipping Corporation, TCI Surya for TCI Seaways, LPG Sigas Ingrid, managed by Swan Shipping Corporation, and Niumath owned by Midsea Shiping Lines.
The repair business is set for an upturn over the next few months, the company believes. Darshana Chandrasekera, head of marketing, ship repair, adds, “The second half of the year looks to be promising. We can see some positive trends over the next few months.”
The yard is also to aiming pick up business installing ballast water treatment systems as retrofits during drydocking periods. “This is one of our target markets and we are quite confident that Colombo Dockyard will be able to capture a significant share of this business from owners in this region,” claims Darshana.
