Uzmar, which exports marine vehicles to the World, starting the new year with a record, exported eco-friendly tugs to Italy, Colombia, Denmark, and Chile. Push boats used to haul logs in the Amazon Forest were also built at the Uzmar shipyards. Noyan Altuğ, Chairman of the Board of Uzmar Shipping, said, “We have covered the distance that Europe has made in 80 years, in 20 years.”
Uzmar, which has built different types of marine vessels for 30 countries, started the new year with a record and exported environmentally friendly tugs to Italy, Colombia, Denmark, and Chile. Push boats used to haul logs in the Brazilian Amazon Forest were also built at the Uzmar shipyards. Uzmar, who has the world’s fastest new-built tug delivery award, completed the last year with 95 percent growth although the pandemic. The Netherlands, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Chile, Pakistan, Kuwait, Spain, and Colombia are among the countries to which the companies export more than 250 tugs, which are among the top 5 shipyards in the world that make tugs and workboats. Noyan Altuğ, Chairman of the Board of Uzmar Maritime, said, “We have covered the distance that Europe has made in 80 years, in 20 years. Turkey’s private tug companies also developed their special type construction activities in the whole world market and became one of the few brands. Turkey is a leader, especially in tug operations”. Altuğ mentioned that Turkish shipyards have grown with the export of environmentally friendly ships. “With the increase in the demand for the construction of innovative and environmentally friendly ships from Northern European countries, export of 2 billion dollars is targeted. There is great demand, especially from Denmark and Norway. The country that exports the most is Norway with 366 million dollars. Shipyards became the sector that increased their exports most with 1.3 billion dollars of exports. Turkey is the top 10 countries in the world in the export of custom-built ships and megayachts, the top 5 in the export of fishing vessels and tugs, and among the top 10 countries in the world in the export of ferries”. Ürün Dirier from Para Magazine talked to Noya Altuğ about the sector and the company’s new goals.
You are a family that has been on the sea for 70 years. Can you briefly describe 70 years as Turkey’s first private Pilotage and Tug Company? How did it start, how is it going?
The story of Uzmar started when my father, Captain Altay Altuğ, founded ‘Turkey’s First Private Pilotage and Tug Company’ in 1973 to serve the ports in the Aegean. In 1996 we started building our tugs to expand our fleet. We have succeeded in being one of the pioneers of the sector in the World, thanks to the high production quality and speed. Continue to produce state-of-the-art and environmentally friendly sea vehicles in the modern shipyard we established in Kocaeli Free Zone in 2007, with the philosophy of “give back to the sea what you take from the sea” of my father, Captain Altay Altuğ, who passed away a short time ago. Today, we perform more than 30 thousand successful maneuvers per year at Nemrut Bay/Aliağa, Ambarlı Port/Istanbul, Iskenderun Port/Hatay and Akçansa Port/Çanakkale. At the same time, we export many different types of marine vessels to approximately 25 countries on 6 continents.
What kind of work have you done so far?
We have exported nearly 200 tugs to 25 countries until today. Two of the tugs, which participated in the rescue of the cargo ship that ran aground in the Suez Canal, causing the maritime traffic to stop and causing a loss of 9.6 billion dollars, also bear the signature of Uzmar.
How has the pandemic affected you? How is your domestic and international business?
The stopping of production in the Far East countries during the pandemic period created an opportunity for the Turkish industrialists. Turkish shipyards, which continued their production even during the heaviest months of the pandemic, became the party that profited from the process. We also accelerated new investments due to increasing orders during the pandemic period. As one of the world’s most important manufacturers of tugs and workboats, we increased our construction capacity by 95 percent with the facilities we started to build in 2020, while at the same time increasing the quality and shortening the delivery time. Our shipyard has gained the opportunity to build more than 25 larger vessels at the same time.
How was 2021 for you, what are your 2022 goals?
We have the world’s fastest delivery of newly built tugs. Although the pandemic, we completed last year with 95 percent growth. Starting the new year with a record, we exported eco-friendly tugs to Italy, Colombia, Denmark, and Chile. The Brazilian Amazon Forest is also entrusted to us. Push boats used to pull logs in the Amazons were also built in our shipyards.
What is the position of private tug and pilotage in Turkey compared to the world?
We are Turkey’s first private pilotage and tug company, as the Uzmar group. Turkey has come a long way in this regard in the last 30 years. We have covered the distance that Europe has taken in 80 years, in 20 years. Turkey’s private tug and pilotage companies have also developed their special type tug construction activities in the world and become one of the few brands. Turkey is in a leading position, especially in tug operations.
Does Turkey compete with the world in the shipbuilding industry based on price or quality? How are we competing with the world right now?
We are in the middle of the competition between price and quality. There are around 150 new shipbuilding and repair shipyards in Turkey. Turkey is a country with a very good geopolitical position with very important ports and sea routes. Especially its proximity to Europe and its strategic location affect this situation even more. There are many important port facilities in Turkey, especially container terminals. At the same time, energy routes pass through Turkey. For this reason, Turkey has an important advantage, especially in the repair and maintenance sector. In addition, there is the new construction sector. Many projects are self-financing for new construction costs. When we sell more advanced ships to Europe, we come across the Chinese factor. On the other hand, we can use the advantages of our distance to Europe and geographical location while competing on low-tech ships. In addition, some of our shipyards specialize in specific vessels such as speedboats, diving boats, tugs, patrol boats. These companies are among the top 3-4 companies in the world.
Pilotage is one of the oldest and most vital professions in the world. By using their knowledge of the depths, currents, and all dangers of the waters they are guiding, the pilots ensure that the ships approach the ports safely and pass through the bottlenecks. How many successful maneuvers have you made so far as Uzmar?
Every year, we perform more than 30 thousand successful maneuvers in total in our pilotage and tug services. We provide pilotage services to an average of 3,500 ships per year.
The tugs that helped rescue the ship in the accident where the ship named Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal and disrupted world trade also bear the signature of Uzmar. Which are the countries you export to?
We are the top 5 shipyards in the world that make tugs and workboats. The countries to which Uzmar exports are the Netherlands, Brazil, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Chile, Pakistan, Kuwait, Spain, Colombia.
What are your new investments and 2022 goals?
We have big goals for 2022 and beyond. First of all, the delivery of our very important projects that are under construction and starting the construction of new projects occupy an important place in our production agenda. We already have the strongest private fleet in Turkey and it is among our important goals to add our new tugs to your fleet this year.
We need to be able to plan the next 10 years in maritime from today. For this reason, we allocate a large share to R&D in terms of finances and time. We continue to work in our R&D department and cooperate with international and national institutions on remote control ships, remote control pilot boats, and remote control tugs. We are rapidly continuing our autonomous bot project, which we plan to implement at the end of this year.
Alternative fuels, energy efficiency, and the transition to green energy are also very important parts of our agenda. We continue our efforts to produce leading technologies in these matters both in our country and in the world.