Ada Shipyard is building TSHD for the Netherlands

Royal IHC, one of the most established companies in the Netherlands, has chosen Ada Shipyard for the building of two Beagle 4 type Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger. Ada Shipyard which is one of the most important shipyard zone of Turkey operating in Tuzla will deliver its first project in 2020 January and the second one in March of the same year.

Ada Shipyard which has undertaken very important projects since its establishment year 2002 is performing a first in Turkey. One of the most established companies in the Netherlands, the shipyard is currently continuing the building of two Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger (TSHD) as part of an agreement with Royal IHC. The first of the ships built in the TSHD type vessel project implemented for the first time in Turkey will be delivered in January of 2020 and the second one in March. Ada Shipyard Chairman of the Board of Directors Adil Erkoc evaluated the vessels they built for the Netherlands and the future targets of the shipyard.

Can you provide information about the vessels being built for Royal IHC at your shipyard?

one of the latest projects developed by the Dutch Royal IHC. These vessels have 4 different designs including Beagle 4, Beagle 6, Beagle 8 and Beagle 12. We will also build the Beagle 4 type vessels that we are building at our shipyard. TSHD (Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger) Beagle 4 series is being made for the first time and the capacity is 4 thousand cubic meters. We are nearing the end of the shipbuilding. We are planning to deliver the first of vessels in 2020 January and the second one is in 2020 March. The vessels are in 87 meters height and 19.5 meters width and have a capacity of 30 personnel.

The vessels you are building for Royal IHC are very specific in terms of type and characteristics. What would you like to say about the ability of Turkish shipyards to build such vessels?

Turkish shipyards have proven themselves in niche shipbuilding. We have proven possibility of building such vessels in Turkey with our quality and speed while building IHC 4.000 CBM TSHD vessels. Royal IHC is the world leader in its field and has been established more than 400 years ago. We, as Ada Shipyard, are proud of the fact that IHC has chosen our shipyard in these important projects and that we are the first shipyard of “dredger” shipbuilding in our country.

How do you assess the situation of Turkish shipyards in shipbuilding?

There has been a relatively increase in orders given to Turkish shipyards in the last two years. Notwithstanding that the number of export countries is increasing day by day; the share of western and northern European countries in total exports is still dominant.

However, the total number of shipyards that are export oriented is quite little. If we, as Turkish shipyards, want to increase our share of the world’s new building cake shipyards are obliged to develop cooperation among them. I believe that a competition among the shipyards of the country will have more beneficial results for our sector and our country.

In addition, increasing labor costs adversely affect our competitive price advantage and the lack of trained labor force constitutes the biggest obstacle in increasing the capacity of Turkish shipyards.

Again, I foresee a point that increasing automation in the near future is one of the essential solutions. I am pleased to see that our shipyards are progressing day by day in terms of quality and construction time despite all the harsh competition conditions. The obligation of all sector representative organizations to act in coordination and with a common mind is more important these days in order to make the maritime sector feel better in the presence of our state.

As far as we know, you provide maintenance and repair services other than the new building in the shipyard, can you provide information about your shipyard’s capacity and works?

Our shipyard has a daily renewal capacity of 6 tons of steel on a total area of 32 thousand square meters, of which 7 thousand square meters is closed. We offer our customers the highest quality service both in new building and maintenance and repair with our CNC workshops, cranes with capacities up to 2×80 tons, production workshops and paint shops.

Finally, can you give us information about your shipyard’s future plans and projects in the near future?

We have reached a principle agreement with our customer IHC for the continuation of the ongoing Beagle series dreger type vessels. This cooperation, which will cover a long period, will be an important export gate for many suppliers besides Ada Shipyard.

In addition, we convinced the Norwegian company Norled, which ordered the first ferry to our country many years ago, and agreed to build a vessel in our country again in June and signed a contract for the building of 2 ferries with a capacity of 60 vehicles and 199 passengers. Our usual ambitious delivery times are valid in this agreement and we are happy to have this new agreement.