Ships of the Year

Scheduled dockings form the backbone of the activities at Turku Repair Yard. In the
foreground Birka Cargo’s ro-ro vessel Birka Exporter during a docking last summer.
Baltic Sea traffic
of the scheduled dockings of the vessels
sailing in the Eastern Baltic Sea.
Re-entering Russia
Turku Repair Yard is especially interested in
docking larger vessels. There are not many
repair yards in the area with docking facilities
suitable for aframax tankers and large
bulk carriers. This year Turku Repair Yard
has already had a couple of tankers from
the Russian oil trade in the dry dock, and
MD Sundqvist thinks that the number will
grow with the traffic.
“We are putting much effort in re-entering
the Russian market after a break of
almost two decades. We have employed a
Russian-speaking project manager to take
care of the Russian market. It is primarily
within this sector that we intend to expand
in the future.”
According to MD Sundqvist a routine
docking is nowadays far from routine.
More and more work tends to be included
in the hectic days at the shipyard. An annual
docking typically lasts about a week.
“We very seldom suffer from delays, especially
as the shipping companies often survey
the underwater hull by using divers in
order to eliminate unpleasant surprises when
the vessel is high and dry in the dry dock.”
The shipyard also starts planning the
docking well in advance.
“Much more preparations are made today
SCANDINAVIAN SHIPPING GAZETTE • DECEMBER 19, 2008 13
PäR-HENRIk SjöSTRöM