KÜÇÜK VIRAMARITIME BASKI 2018 SSM HAMBURG
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NEWS<br />
8<br />
“We expect stability”<br />
“We have achieved a local production rate of 60-70 percent thanks to the progresses that we have made in<br />
the last years. Our goal is to reach 100 percent local production. With MİLGEM project that we realized<br />
under the leadership of our President, Turkish shipbuilding industry has broken down many bias.”<br />
Murat Kıran<br />
Chairman of Turkish Shipbuilders’Association (GİSBİR)<br />
As one of the oldest nongovernmental<br />
organisations,<br />
we keep working hard with<br />
our philosophy of realistic<br />
determinations and demands<br />
in the areas related to Turkish<br />
shipbuilding industry. For me,<br />
the meaning and value of the<br />
statement “The one who controls<br />
the seas also controls the world” is<br />
very important. The shipbuilding<br />
industry is one of the basic<br />
investment instruments of heavy<br />
industry and is also a strategic<br />
industry since it has close and<br />
inevitable link with the defence<br />
industry which utilizes advanced<br />
technologies. A shipbuilding<br />
industry functioning according<br />
to the international norms has a<br />
special position for each country<br />
in terms of military, commercial<br />
and social aspects. The significance<br />
of shipbuilding industry is<br />
indisputable for Turkey as well. In<br />
the next 10-year conjuncture, we<br />
predict that the demand and supply<br />
gap evolve to the direction of supply<br />
and demand equilibrium as a result<br />
of the number of shipyards closed<br />
due to the crisis in the world. In this<br />
case, we expect that the shipyards<br />
able to be efficient in terms of<br />
investment and production cost<br />
will survive and earn money; and<br />
for Turkey, the use of our available<br />
unutilised production capacity will<br />
increase depending on formation<br />
of political stability in our region.<br />
Today, the employment effect of<br />
the Shipbuilding Industry which<br />
directly employs nearly 30,000<br />
people can be figured by 100,000s<br />
when side-industry is taken into<br />
consideration. In our industry,<br />
we pay close attention to the use<br />
of domestic materials of high<br />
quality in the production process.<br />
Even if we have achieved home<br />
production rates of 60-70 percent<br />
with the progresses that we have<br />
made in the last years, we wish and<br />
aim to achieve 100 percent home<br />
production. We know and believe<br />
that the more we increase our home<br />
production, the more indirect<br />
positive effect the industry will<br />
have in our country’s employment.<br />
Among the advantages that make<br />
Turkish shipbuilding industry<br />
prominent in maintenance and<br />
repair sector include infrastructure<br />
and technology, number of<br />
shipyards, delivery period and<br />
capacity of production in terms<br />
of quality, flexible labour force,<br />
our flexibility regarding customers<br />
requests, availability of shipyards<br />
simultaneously building new ships<br />
and performing maintenance<br />
and repair operations, diversity<br />
in product range, our strategic<br />
geographical location with flight<br />
distances of 3 hours to 52 countries,<br />
classification societies, equipment<br />
manufacturers, the number of our<br />
floating docks, being a powerful<br />
country of the region in shipbuilding<br />
industry, the support of iron &<br />
steel industry, availability of ship<br />
recycling industry, experience<br />
with universities and educational<br />
institutions, and sufficient and<br />
skilled human source.<br />
Today, the Turkish shipyards are<br />
modern and advanced in technology,<br />
has the necessary international<br />
certificates and is capable of<br />
building different types of ships.<br />
Our shipyards have responded to<br />
the decrease in new shipbuilding<br />
demands after the worldwide crisis<br />
in shipbuilding industry in 2008<br />
by following a flexible strategy.<br />
Turkish shipbuilding industry<br />
has specialized in various types<br />
of vessels including petroleum<br />
tankers, chemical tankers,<br />
handysize and handymax tankers,<br />
load and container ships, ships with<br />
heavy lifting equipment, wind farm<br />
supply vessels, multi-purpose ships,<br />
platform support ships, military<br />
and coast guard ships and fishing<br />
boats, research vessels, towing<br />
boats, mega yachts, niche market<br />
boats such as supply and offshore<br />
boats. I can say that as a new trend<br />
in the world today, Green Ship has<br />
become important in new builds.<br />
Our shipbuilding industry builds<br />
these green ships and also pays<br />
great attention to protect the<br />
environment in its production areas.<br />
Turkish shipbuilding industry<br />
conducts maintenance and repair<br />
projects under the fleet agreements<br />
signed with various world’s leading<br />
and public firms of shipping line<br />
operations. In order to successfully<br />
sign such fleet agreements, you<br />
have to pass the inspections,<br />
including not only technical but<br />
also occupational health and safety<br />
and administrative requirements<br />
that are specified by the UK based<br />
The Oil Companies International<br />
Marine Forum (OCIMF). These<br />
inspections are conducted within<br />
the range of norms accepted<br />
worldwide and our shipyards<br />
manage to enter to the list of<br />
approved vendors following these<br />
inspections.<br />
Besides all, I would like to draw<br />
your attention to the fact that we<br />
ensured that significant amount<br />
of foreign currency stays in our<br />
country thanks to our capability of<br />
producing military/merchant ships,<br />
primarily for defence industry,<br />
with lower costs in our private<br />
shipyards, which were previously<br />
supplied from abroad by paying<br />
large amount of foreign currency.<br />
Considering the military and coast<br />
guard projects, another specialty of<br />
Turkish shipbuilding industry, we<br />
can say that those ships are now<br />
produced in Turkish shipyards and<br />
some of them are even exported,<br />
as well. To have an advanced naval<br />
force is also one of the common<br />
qualities of developed countries in<br />
the world. Today, at the point where<br />
we stand as Turkey, our MİLGEM<br />
project, which was supplied by the<br />
Turkish shipbuilding industry to<br />
Turkish Naval Forces under the<br />
leadership of our President has<br />
broken down many prejudices. We<br />
have 9 shipyards which build or are<br />
building different types of military<br />
support ships such as Landing<br />
Platform Dock (LPD), coast guard<br />
search and rescue boats, modern<br />
patrol boats, LCT and LST (landing<br />
ships), submarine mother rescue<br />
vessels, rescue and tow ships and<br />
logistic support ships and exporting<br />
some of those ships. As you know,<br />
in order to renew our coaster fleet,<br />
The Coaster Shipping Corporation,<br />
a Public-Private Partnership, was<br />
founded with a 49 percent share<br />
of the Ministry of Industry and<br />
Technology. The Transport and<br />
Infrastructure Ministry will<br />
encourage removal of old ships<br />
from our fleet by wreck incentives.<br />
The Ministry of Economy will<br />
support the project by the Support<br />
Mechanism on Project Basis.<br />
However, it is sure that achieving<br />
this desired goal will be possible<br />
only by properly designing and<br />
conducting the finance model<br />
that the system requires. If this<br />
is achieved, in 2023, the Turkish<br />
mercantile navy will be much<br />
more efficient in sea transportation<br />
and consist of modern and<br />
technologically advanced ships<br />
which are more cost-efficient, more<br />
competetive and safer in terms of<br />
environment and safety of life and<br />
property, and provide high added<br />
value. By using a national design,<br />
domestic materials in high ratios,<br />
light composite materials of high<br />
strength and machines consistent<br />
with the new conventions, Turkish<br />
Mercant Fleet will be able to have<br />
fuel saving eco-ships with modern<br />
and technological superiority. Of<br />
course these ships will be built in<br />
Turkish shipyards with the efforts<br />
of Turkish engineers and workers,<br />
and will directly or indirectly<br />
provide our shipyards and sideindustries<br />
with new employment<br />
areas for at least 30,000 people.<br />
Recently, there has been a rush<br />
of oil and gas exploration in the<br />
seas surrounding our country,<br />
particularly in the Mediterranean<br />
Sea. The geopolitical importance<br />
of this region is a stubborn fact.<br />
We consider the rush in the<br />
Mediterranean Sea is the result of its<br />
strategic location, particularly with<br />
the Suez Channel, and its potential<br />
submerged energy resources. To<br />
be the leader in this region and to<br />
take the maximum advantages of<br />
those energy resources is crucial<br />
for our near future. Within this<br />
context, to contribute to the<br />
creation of the navy that TPAO<br />
(Turkish Petroleum) needs for the<br />
exploration and drill operations for<br />
oil/gas must be the major task of<br />
the Turkish shipbuilding industry.<br />
The offshore platform that we are<br />
planning to build for TPAO is one<br />
of these initiatives. On the other<br />
hand, the modern ships we built<br />
for Naval Forces Command to<br />
defend our rights and benefits in<br />
the region may be considered as<br />
the contributions of the Turkish<br />
Shipbuilding Industry. Surely, we<br />
consider our need for new shipyards<br />
including maintenance and repair<br />
operations in our southern regions<br />
closer to the Mediterranean Sea.<br />
As I stated at the beginning, to<br />
start a positive process for the<br />
maritime is directly associated<br />
with the stability that will be<br />
experienced in the region. Around<br />
our country, which is located at<br />
the centre of Middle East, the<br />
Balkans and Caucasus and at an<br />
important transit point for maritime<br />
lines, the negative economic and<br />
political developments naturally<br />
and directly affect our country.<br />
We hope the developments in these<br />
areas be stable.