Six shipyards set sail to win military ship contract

BURAK BEKDİL

Six companies submitted their bids, which are Anadolu Deniz Kizaklari (one of their ships is seen in the photo), Desan Deniz Insaat, Istanbul Denizcilik, Selah Makine ve Gemicilik, Tuzla Gemi and Turkter Tersane. Company photo

Six local shipyards will be competing to win an approximately $100 million contract to build two logistical support ships for the Turkish Navy.

The shipyards that submitted bids ahead of the May 16 closing deadline were: Anadolu Deniz Kizaklari, Desan Deniz Insaat, Istanbul Denizcilik, Selah Makine ve Gemicilik, Tuzla Gemi and Turkter Tersane.

Earlier, Turkey’s procurement authorities had launched a competition to acquire two logistical support ships. Turkey’s procurement agency, the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM), said the competition would be open only to local shipyards.

Most expected firms absent

Industry sources said that Turkish shipyard Sedef’s abstention from the bidding came as a surprise. Sedef was the first private Turkish shipyard to build a similar ship, the Akar-class Yarbay Kudret Gungor, which was launched in 1994 and commissioned in 1997.

The vessel is 145 meters long and operates with 203 crew members. It has a platform for one medium-sized helicopter, carries 980 tons of fuel oil, 2,700 tons of water, 80 tons of oil and has 500 cubic meters of cargo.

As part of a deal penned in February, Pakistan’s Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works will build a replenishment tanker designed by Turkish technology and systems engineering company Savunma Teknolojileri Muhendislik ve Ticaret (STM) within four years.

The government-owned STM will supply the design, integrated logistics and support, consultancy and management, training, and the test and trials support for the Pakistani project.

The 15,600-ton, 155-meter-long, double-hull tanker has two replenishment rigs and can accommodate a medium-sized helicopter onboard.

Another naval powerhouse absent from the bidding is Koc Holding’s RMK Marine. In January SSM announced that it would begin talks with RMK Marine for the construction of six ships as part of the Milgem national warships project, estimated at around $2.5 billion.

Among the eight corvettes of the Milgem project, the TCG Heybeliada has already been constructed and the TCG Büyükada has been put to sea. Corvettes are the smallest warships in the inventory of the Turkish Navy, as the country has no ocean coasts.