Walkers Colombo Shipyard launches ‘Ocean Lady’

Ocean Lady after being launched

Ocean Lady on the shiplift ready to be launched

Ocean Lady, a 35m landing craft built at Walkers Shipyard Colombo

Text and pix by P.D. De Silva

‘Ocean Lady’, a 35 meter landing craft designed and constructed by Walkers Colombo Shipyard Ltd. (WCS), was launched at a simple ceremony held at its yard at Mutwal last Wednesday (5).

Ocean Lady is the second landing craft built by WCS for Sanken Overseas Maldives. ‘Fat Lady’, a 25 meter landing craft, was the first.

Both these vessels were designed and built by an in-house team of highly skilled naval architects and engineers under the guidance of WCS (Colombo) Ltd. Managing Director Dr. Sarath Obeysekera.

‘Ocean Lady’ which is capable of a top speed of 8.5 nautical miles per hour is 35 meters long, 8.5 meters wide and has a draft of 2 meters. It has a deck load of 200 tons and can accommodate a crew of six. The vessel is to be used mainly during the mobilisation and demobilisation stages of construction projects in the Maldives.