Sedef Shipyard is getting closer to the delivery of the TCG Anadolu dock landing ship, which will be the most valuable and largest ship the Turkish Navy will ever own. The company, which made its first trial run in the first quarter of 2022, and that is the technical course of the shipyard, aims to deliver the project by the end of this year, which will be a source of pride for our country.
In addition to this major project, Sedef Shipyard also carried out a comprehensive conversion and lengthening operation of 2 Ro-PaX (passenger and cargo ship) projects belonging to Stena Line, one of Sweden’s largest ferry operators. Endüstrihaber (Industry news) talked with Sedef Shipbuilding’s Strategic Planning and Business Development Director Fahri Arısoy about the latest investments and projects at Sedef Shipyard.
We would like you to briefly describe the structuring of your company. What kind of firsts has your company achieved in its field?
Sedef Shipbuilding Inc. was founded exactly 50 years ago in 1972 in Diliskelesi by Sezai Türkeş, Fevzi Akkaya, Shipbuilding Engineers Bülent Arkun, and the Cemil Gürlek family. In December 2000, the shipyard was sold by STFA to Turkon Holding, which belongs to the Kaşif Kalkavan family. It has been fortunate for the Kalkavan Family, which has a deep-rooted maritime history, to acquire the Sedef Shipyard, where they have their container ships built.
Sedef Shipyard is one of the oldest and most well-established privately owned shipyards in Turkey. With the investments made since 2005, it has become an exemplary shipyard, which is difficult to find even in Europe. In 2001, a technology transfer and information sharing agreement was signed with a German shipyard, and in this process that lasted for about 5 years, the shipyard changed its approach to work and workflow methods, and the facility was restructured accordingly. With this move, Sedef broke new ground in the shipyard business in Turkey and started to be taken as an example. The first tug with Voith Schneider propulsion system in Turkey, the first military ship built by private sector shipyards, TCG Yarbay Kudret Güngör, the first floating power plant platforms for Karadeniz Holding were built by SEDEF.
How did you complete the year 2021, can you evaluate it together with the first quarter of 2022? Can we learn about your new investment plans and targets for 2022, if any?
The pandemic, which took the whole world under its influence in 2020, unfortunately, continued to affect negatively in 2021. As a result of the restrictions placed on material supplies due to the pandemic, the companies experienced disruptions in their production and were able to deliver their products late. This has had negative effects on ongoing projects for us as well as for almost every sector.
The construction of projects for which contracts were signed in previous years continued in 2021. The delivery of the TCG Anadolu dock landing ship is even closer. TCG Anadolu, which will be the most valuable and largest ship to be owned by the Turkish Naval Forces, was made in the first quarter of 2022, which is the technical course of the shipyard. The delivery of this project, which will be a source of pride for our country, is targeted towards the end of 2022. The delivery of 2 of the 4 electric ferry projects carrying passengers and vehicles, which were ordered from Norway, was carried out in 2021, and the delivery of the third in the first quarter of 2022. A comprehensive conversion and lengthening operation of 2 Ro-PaX (passenger and cargo ship) projects of Stena Line, one of Sweden’s largest ferry operators, was carried out. After the ships were cut in the middle in the dry dock of our shipyard, their capacity was increased by extending their length to 222 meters with the addition of newly constructed sections of 36 meters. In addition to the capacity increase, the living quarters were renewed and the ships became more environmentally friendly with the installation of new equipment such as an additional bow thruster to increase the maneuverability of the ship, the installation of a scruber system that reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and the installation of a ballast water treatment system. In the second half of 2021, 2 projects were completed and delivered to their owners. In addition to these projects, 18 of Karadeniz Holding’s 25 floating power plants were delivered by Sedef Shipyard, one of which was delivered in February 2021, and the construction work of the other is continuing.
How is the decision to invest in machinery, R&D or technology, etc. in your shipyard? What kind of investment have you made recently?
Investments aimed at increasing efficiency and quality in our shipyard are constantly continuing. With the determination of the need, new developments and changes in the world are also followed and brought to the shipyard. On the other hand, innovations are made as a result of continuous improvement efforts, and new regulations and practices are implemented. Since the last quarter of 2020, the Pearl Manufacturing System has been implemented in line with the Lean Production principles, and this system is constantly being developed. Efficiency and benefits are increased by making additions to existing machinery and equipment. With all these, it is tried to increase the quality of the final product and customer satisfaction, and to ensure that the work is completed on time and within the targeted budget. All foreigners who place orders at shipyards in Turkey also state that they are extremely satisfied with the quality of the product they purchased and the results. Recently, it is aimed to increase efficiency and quality by putting into use investments in the development of ventilation ducts of workshops, and the development of new welding and automatic welding lines.
Can you explain the shipbuilding processes in your shipyard, step by step, from design and R&D studies to delivery?
In the shipyard, the new shipbuilding process is handled and carried out in the form of workstations. This process is similar to the principle of manufacturing a car on line. While work areas, workers, and work tools keep their fixed places, workpieces move from one to the other in these stations sequentially. To make such a production, the design and planning process of the product is done in more detail and in a longer time. Single-piece production, pre-production, flat panel, curvilinear panel manufacturing, and block manufacturing after sectioning are carried out. It is aimed to complete all hot works in the block phase. For this, steel equipment and pipes are produced at their workstations and mounted on blocks. Then the blocks are scraped and painted in the environmentally friendly Block Scraping and Paint Halls. Afterward, the blocks are added to each other in the slipway or dry dock form the ship. Equipment, pipe manufacturing, and assemblies are carried out in the disciplines of machine assembly, electricity, ventilation, living quarters, exterior paint, and navigational devices. All systems of the ship, which is launched, are tested separately, and then they go on a trial run.
This process, which starts with the steel sheet cutting following the design and ends with the delivery of the ship, is completed in a period of one to two years, depending on the complexity and size of the ships. The manufacturing process of naval ships is longer and more complex with warfare and electronic systems.
What kind of methods and systems do you use for production, can you tell us about your work within the scope of OHS?
Before starting the work, with the detailing of the design, work preparation, and planning studies, the works can be done more intensively at the block stage and in the early stages. In this way, the risks and dangers of the work are also reduced. Occupational Health and Safety efficiency is increased with work permits and continuous controls. For OHS, both the shipyard’s occupational safety personnel and the independent occupational safety teams are supported by outside work together with the sharing based on projects and areas. Employee mobility and space density controls can be made using IoT (Internet of Things) methods.
Do you prefer a domestic machine or an imported machine, why?
Plasma cutting benches, panel production line, profile preparation robot and line, welding robots, sheet metal and profile bending benches, pipe bending machine, sheet metal cutting press, sheet bending press, lathe, milling, planer, saw, pipe flange welding machine, paint and blast filters, paint robots are some of the equipment in our machine park. We prefer domestic machinery and equipment when it is available in the market. This contributes to the development of the domestic industry. SEDEF Shipyard’s machinery and equipment park is even richer than those of other shipyards in Turkey.
Do you use robots in your production processes? If you are using it, what are the advantages of robot investment?
Robots are used in cutting, profile preparation, preliminary scraping and painting, profile assembly, and welding. These increase both quality and time savings.
What kind of work do you do to reduce your energy costs in your facility? Do you have an investment plan to produce your energy?
The Energy Efficiency Design Index, known as EEDI, is calculated and tried to be improved and developed in all recently designed ships. It is aimed to use energy more efficiently with frequency control units and soft starters used in the shipyard. It is aimed to reduce energy losses by placing electrical transformers close to consumption centers. All worksite and workshop lighting have been switched to LED. It is only possible for the shipyards to produce their electricity in amounts close to their consumption, by establishing wind or solar power plants in suitable areas independent of the shipyard. For this, it is necessary to make a serious power plant investment. Wind or solar power plants to be installed in the shipyard can only be symbolic.