ECONOMY er-national

Turkish navy 'trusts' Koç's shipbuilding

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News | 12/19/2010 12:00:00 AM |

The second coastguard vessel built by RMK Marine, a Koç Holding affiliate, for the Turkish navy was put to sea Friday at Istanbul’s Tuzla Bay.

With the additional two coastguard vessels the company plans to build, the total value of business the firm will complete with the navy is expected to reach 360 million euros, according to executives.

“In order to improve the national defense industry it is highly important to cooperate with the private sector,” said Rahmi Koç, honorary chairman of Koç Holding, at a ceremony marking the launch of the vessel. A third coastguard vessel will be launched in 2011 and a fourth will be completed in 2012, he said.

"Güven," meaning trust in English, was put to sea Friday and is the second largest battleship built by the private sector, Koç said.

Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül said at the ceremony that Turkey is capable of producing 70 percent of its own navy’s current industrial demand. Nearly 30 percent of the demand, mainly in engines, has been provided by imports, he said. “Turkey will fulfill current navy requirements with a new project to be launched by the Defense Ministry,” he said.

Gönül said the Undersecretary of Defense Industry aims to increase the value of the export of naval vessels to 1 billion dollars.

Having joined Koç Holding nearly 13 years ago, RMK Marine provides turn-key solutions in design, construction, project management, maintenance, refits and repairs of super yachts, as well as military and merchant shipping vessels.

The RMK shipyard has one of the longest slipways in the district of Tuzla and builds ships of up to 30,000 deadweight-ton capacities.

RMK Marine has the capacity to build and launch many vessels with different tonnages simultaneously and mainly exports its products. The company’s leading customers are located all over the world, in countries such as Denmark, France, Holland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Last year, RMK Marine launched "Dost,” the first largest rescue vessel built by the private sector.