Walkers Colombo Shipyard hands over ‘Fat Lady’ to Sanken Overseas Maldives

Walkers Colombo Shipyard Ltd., a subsidiary of MTD Walkers PLC, has successfully completed the construction of ‘Fat Lady’, a landing craft designed and constructed for Sanken OverseasMaldives Ltd. 

The landing craft ‘Fat Lady’

The landing craft designed and constructed entirely by an in-house team of highly skilled naval architects and engineers, under the guidance of Dr. Sarath Obeysekera, Managing Director of Walkers Colombo Shipyard Ltd. was recently handed over to Sanken Overseas Maldives Ltd. at a ceremony held recently in Mutwal Harbour.

“As a result of our project planning and efficiency, we managed to complete the construction of the vessel within three months,” said Dr. Sarath Obeysekera stating that this was an achievement for the shipyard. He further added that the services provided are competitive with any other shipyard in the region.

The landing craft which is a 24.5 meters long and 7.0 meters wide vessel has a draft of 1.4 m and a deck load capacity of 75 ton. This vessel was marketed and sold by Walkers Equipment Limited to Sanken Overseas Maldives.

Walkers CML Group President – Engineering Services and Infrastructure Cluster Viraj De Silva receiving the agreement for the purchase of the second landing craft by Sanken Overseas Maldives Managing Director Mevan Gunathilake

“The vessel will mainly be used during the mobilisation and demobilisation stages of construction projects in Maldives,” said Mevan Gunathilake, Managing Director of Sanken Overseas Maldives Ltd. He further adds, “This vessel will help us to further optimise our operations and provide an even more efficient service to our clients.”

“The landing craft has been built as per the rules of the Classifications Society and we are confident of its performance and ability to assist our client in enhancing their operations,” states Dr. Sarath Obeysekera. 

“The main reason why Sanken Overseas Maldives partnered with Walkers Colombo Shipyard is solely the trust we have with the Walkers CML Group on a corporate level, and to provide an opportunity for a Sri Lankan company,” said Gunathilake. He further adds, “This vessel has once again proved that Walkers Colombo Shipyard is efficient in their output as they have been able to deliver the barge on time with the required level of quality and features. 

Following the launching of the landing craft, Sanken Overseas Maldives signed a new agreement with Walkers Colombo Shipyard to build a second landing craft of 200 ton capacity; 35 meters in length, 8.5 meters wide with a  draft of 2.0 meters.