Skipsteknisk, based in Norway, has managed to carry out successful and significant projects with Turkish yards in the short period of time since 2012, when it opened its office in Turkey. The manager of Skipsteknisk Turkey, who has vast experience in the sector, says the company, which plans on gradually expanding its team of engineers from 15 to 25 people, hasn’t wasted any time since having started operations in Turkey.
“Skipsteknisk has been designing vessels since 1976, and it is continuing its operations as a leader particularly in fishing vessel design. Its references include vessels built according to more than 1000 concepts. In addition to fishing and seismic research vessels, we have significant expertise in the design of seismic support vessels and offshore construction vessels,” Akture said.
Akture, formerly employed by the Norwegian company Ulstein, contacted Skipsteknisk toget-her with the rest of the former employees of Ulstein when that company decided to end its operations in Turkey. At the time, Tersan Shipyard was building five or six vessels for Skipsteknisk, which was aware that shipbuilding in Turkey remained lively although the industry was regressing in most countries. “Skipsteknisk decided to invest here within the short period of three weeks. When we first started, there were only five engineers. Currently, there are 15 engineers. Our Norwegian colleague has left. We want to bring the number of employees to 25, but it is not something that can happen overnight. The company started operations on Sept. 1, 2012 officially. We have realized four different projects within a short period of time. Two of these projects were completed by this office, and 80 percent of the other two projects was also completed by this office. Now we are working on a 1+1 fish vessel ordered by Norway’s Interfish at Besiktas Shipyard.”
‘World leader in fishing vessel design’
Akture provided further information about Skipsteknisk, saying that the partners who founded the company have been working together since 1976. “We contact capable yards to inquire about pricing only after reaching agreement with the ordering company on the best design and preparing the specifications. No broker commission is required in this phase. We only do the design, the owner and the shipyard are free to use the equipment they like. This is attractive for yards, because it enables them to keep their proposals at more attractive levels. Skipsteknisk has always deve-loped basic or concept designs, give or take a few exceptions. We are not overly interested in going into manufacturing design.”
Currently, the central office in Norway employs 45 people, Akture said. The company also has a contact office in China. Currently, the company has 17 design agreements signed. There are six fishing vessels under construction for an owner in the US and there are Skipsteknisk projects in construction in several Spanish yards. “We have large size ships that are in construction in Norwegian yards. In addition to two offshore vessels under construction in China, there will be two seismic research ships. The project of the seismic support vessels being constructed by Besiktas for Thor was, for the most part, developed in the Turkish office,” Akture said.
‘Tersan opened an important door for Turkey’
The company selects the yards on the basis of the vessel size and the project at hand. He said Skipsteknisk has worked mostly with Tersan and Besiktas, adding that they were also interested in working with yards such as Ada, Cemre and Sefine.
“Currently, the offshore construction vessel being built at Tersan is a very important project for Turkey. Tersan has opened a very important door for Turkey in the offshore construction vessel sector. We have two similar projects for which Tersan, Besiktas, Cemre and Ada are preparing bids. These are going to be 100-meter long offshore construction vessels with a capacity for 90 crew. There are many tenders around the world for vessels of this size especially in Norway, the US and the UK.”
He said Norwegians usually preferred Turkish yards in specific vessels. “They don’t go to China. They only take offers from Poland, Spain and Turkey. As of late, 70 percent of all the projects that have emerged have come to Turkey.”
Yards in Turkey are continually improving, addressing any existing issues every day, Akture said, adding that the flexibility of the country’s yards is an important advantage that contributes to customer satisfaction.
Akture said that Turkey mostly competes with Poland and Spain in the construction of special vessels. “But the yards in Turkey are very flexible. In addition to better prices and work quality, the flexi-bility offered here is an important reason for firms to chose Turkey. Turkish yards never create any problems in the construction of fishing vessels, whose projects usually see a lot of changes after construction starts. For example if the fishing vessel constructed by Besiktas had been built somewhere else, they would have charged at least 15-20 percent more because of the changes to the project introduced later.”
The future of Turkish shipping is in special type vessels, Akture said, noting that it is impossib-le to outcompete the yards in the Far East in large cargo vessels. “Turkey is about to pass a significant threshold in the offshore construction vessel sector. But the finance sector is not giving enough support for shipbuilding. Significant financing is needed in this segment. If yards can come together to form a structure to enable them to support each other both in terms of financing and technically, Turkey can meet its export targets in 2023. We have the capacity for it and we have a well trained workforce, but the opportunities that arise should be seized.”
