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By Harsha Udayakantha Peiris
Setting up to provide discerning ship owners and managers with fast response, reliable afloat repair service, while the ship is in port or anchorage, Sri Lanka’s pioneer ship building and ship repairing centre, the Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC) officially launches the Rapid Response Afloat Repair Service (RRARS).
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Colombo Dockyard Chairman Hideaki Tanaka speaks at the event |
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Colombo Dockyard Managing Director/CEO D.V. Abeysinghe speaks at the event |
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CDPLC Head of Ship Repair Marketing Darshana Chandrasekara delivers the vote of thanks at the event |
Quoting Steve Maraboli’s words, “Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient,” as title in a special message to the event, the CDPLC states that the company understands the sentiment in the island, after the cowardly Easter Sunday attacks last month. “As stakeholders in the maritime industry in Sri Lanka, we cannot stay dormant and wait for business to recover at its own pace. Giving due respect to the departed souls, the injured and the families affected, we continue to mourn for the losses and try our best to help the injured and the grieving families to recover speedily. As time is of the essence we have decided to officially launch the Rapid Response Afloat Repair Service under the Colombo Dockyard PLC umbrella as an added feature to attract the ship owners and managers back to Sri Lanka,” the message says.
The official launching ceremony of Rapid Response Afloat Repair Service was held on Friday 31 May at the Marino Beach hotel in Colombo. A large number of local and foreign stakeholders, high level representatives of shipping agents, several officials of Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and local and foreign representatives of the CDPLC were also present at the occasion.
Speaking at the event, Colombo Dockyard PLC Managing Director/CEO D.V. Abeysinghe said that the Colombo Dockyard PLC would like to make it an opportunity to meet their business partners to officially announce the expansion of their new business avenues.
“The CDPLC recognised the requirement of starting a professional afloat repair service in the recent past and we have attended to such repairs earlier as well. Also, we have identified this critical need due to the demand from various ship owners for having a reputed and reliable repair partner in the Sri Lankan waters,” Abeysinghe said.
A subsidiary company under the name Dockyard Technical Services (DTS) has already been formed to provide all required manpower in this regard where all employees of the DTS are thoroughly and professionally well trained in the Colombo Dockyard PLC on the subject and affiliated areas. All supervision is done by ex-dockyard supervisors. A 24 x 7 hotline and an email is available for service calls and will be handled by the CDPLC with the highest level of reliability.
Further speaking Abeysinghe stressed that the Colombo Dockyard PLC could provide the owners with a very high quality dockyard quality service at a competitive price range. “The service is dedicated for providing solutions especially to the clients at any Sri Lankan port and also the ships in anchorage. The company is also expecting further enhancements to the new service, based on future responses and demand,” he added.
The Colombo Dockyard PLC as the leading ship building and ship repair service provider in Sri Lanka broadened its reach to provide these preventive and breakdown repairs through a dedicated unit that handles afloat repairs/voyage with higher service capability at all Sri Lankan ports and anchorages and the wide spectrum of repairs carried out by the Rapid Response Team includes afloat hull repairs and steal renewals, propeller/stern tube renewal, engine and generator repairs, winches and windlass repairs, cranes and cargo gear repairs, electrical and automation solutions and repairs, professional trouble shooting, bollard pull testing facilitation up to 250 tons and also in-house workshops and dry-dock support.
Speaking at the CDPLC’s official launch of Rapid Response Afloat Repair Service, Colombo Dockyard PLC Chairman Hideaki Tanaka said that his heart went out for all the families who were affected from the recent Easter Sunday incident at this very difficult time of Sri Lanka that has stressed to emerge at her best to rebuild.
“Immediately following the incident we decided and performed all routine operations at the CDPLC because we wanted to show our presence and also our stability to overcome the difficulties. And, a day after the Easter Sunday attacks, the recorded employee attendance ratio at the CDPLC was more than 80% which I think is our pride,” Tanaka said.
Tanaka also remembered with immense gratitude the support of Sri Lanka extended to rebuild Japan after World War II.
“After World War II, Japan was completely destroyed. Japan had only one choice and that was to focus on future and rebuild the country. With the support of Sri Lanka, finally Japan became one of the greatest economies in the world. The Japanese people have never forgotten the support extended by Sri Lankans and especially late President J.R. Jayewardene for his remarkable speech at the Treaty of San Francisco in 1951,” Tanaka recalled.
The friendship between Sri Lanka and Japan was established decades ago with the great speech made by J.R. Jayawardene, the then Minister of Finance, at the Conference held on the Treaty of Peace with Japan, also known as the Treaty of San Francisco or San Francisco Peace Treaty. It was reached between Japan and part of the Allied Powers of 48 nations on 8 September 1951, at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, United States. The treaty came into effect on 28 April 1952.
The late President J.R. Jayewardene defended Japan in its hour of need when many western nations demanded payment for reparations for damages caused during the Second World War. At that time Japan was struggling to achieve economic stability immediately after the Second World War and such payments if made would have affected the economy of Japan adversely.
A 17 March 2013 report in Daily Mirror by Lakshman I. Keerthisinghe indicates that this treaty served to officially end the Second World War to formally end Japan’s position as an imperial power and to allocate compensation to Allied civilians and former Prisoners Of War (POW), who had suffered Japanese war crimes. This treaty made extensive use of the UN Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to enunciate the Allies’ goals.
“We do not intend to do so for we believe in the words of the Great Teacher, Buddha, whose message has enabled the lives of countless millions in Asia, that ‘hatred ceases not by hatred but by love’,” were the very words expressed by the late President Jayewardene at this conference.
“A major supporter for a post-war free Japan was the delegation from Sri Lanka, then Ceylon. While many were reluctant to allow a free Japan capable of aggressive action and insisted that the terms of surrender should be rigidly enforced in an attempt to break the spirit of the Japanese nation, the Ceylonese Finance Minister J.R. Jayewardene spoke in defence for a free Japan and informed the Conference of Ceylon’s refusal to accept the payment of reparations that would harm Japan’s economy,” the report states.
Speaking of the success feats being achieved by the CDPLC at present, Tanaka also said that the company is proud of its present capacity that enabled them to build the very high end, sophisticated cable laying vessel to Japan that is scheduled to deliver in July this year. “What we have achieved has ensured and assured our capacity and capability that everyone can have confidence to place any complicated ship repair job to the CDPLC and we also assure that the Rapid Response Afloat Repair Service would provide fast and a very high quality service to our clients,” he said.
With over four decades of experience, Colombo Dockyard has evolved into a formidable force in the regional ship building arena, defined its capabilities by the type of vessels the CDPLC manufactures. Its ability to carry out the construction of these vessels to meet the requirements stipulated by stringent international classification societies, whilst customising the vessel to surpass all stated and implied requirements of the customer, has paved way to the company’s success. The Colombo Dockyard PLC is a Board of Investment in Sri Lanka registered, Colombo Stock Exchange listed company operating in collaboration with Onomichi Dockyard Co. Ltd. Japan.
Pix by Upul Abayasekara
