Colombo Dockyard signs major shipbuilding contract

From left: Embassy of France Deputy Head of Mission Matthieu John, Economic Counsellor Philippe Fouet, Orange Marine Ships Technical Director/ Med Marine Base Director Emmanuel Decugis, President/CEO Didier Dillard, Ambassador of France in Sri Lanka Remi Lambert, Colombo Dockyard Managing Director/ CEO Thimira S. Godakumbura, Director/CFO Gihan Ravinatha, AGM (Projects Development) Sanjeewa Jayathilake, Head of Shipbuilding Marketing Prince Lye 

Image of Sophie Germain, previously built CRV by Colombo Dockyard to Orange Marine delivered in July 2023

• To build two cable laying and repair vessels for Orange Marine 

Colombo Dockyard PLC (CDPLC), has secured another repeat vessels contract to build two Cable Laying and Repair Vessels to one the prestigious cable ship operators, Orange Marine. 

Incidentally this is the largest shipbuilding contract CDPLC has ever signed in the history of the Company.

Orange Marine is a French company specialising in the field of submarine telecommunications, from the initial design, engineering, to installation of intercontinental and regional links, and maintenance of existing cables. The Orange Marine’s fleet is one of the most experienced in the world and represents 12% of the world cableships fleet.

The contract signing was held in Colombo recently and Orange Marine President/CEO Didier Dillard signed the contracts in the presence of Ships Technical Director – Med Marine Base Director Emmanuel Décugis. Also Ambassador Rémi Lambert, Deputy Head of Mission Matthieu John, and  Embassy of France Economic Counsellor Philippe Fouet, were present to give their blessings to the project.  

MD/CEO Thimira S. Godakumbura signed the contracts on behalf of the CDPLC in the presence of Director/CFO Gihan Ravinatha and the senior management team of Colombo Dockyard.

The proposed two vessels shall be ultra-modern, high technology vessels similar to the Sophie Germain built and delivered by CDPLC back in July 2023. These vessels are specially designed and equipped for sub-sea cable lay and repair operation duties with a high focus on good sea keeping qualities, excellent station keeping performance and low fuel consumption.

The vessels have been designed by Vard Design AS of Norway and an optimised hull form and bow shape developed by Vard has been incorporated in the design, enabling the vessel to achieve high speeds and minimise its carbon footprints, to be a highly eco-friendly vessel.

These vessels shall be built to Bureau Veritas classification society standards and shall meet the regulatory requirements of the French Flag Authority. The vessels environmental friendliness with focus on low fuel consumption shall be in accordance with BV CLEANSHIP requirements.

The vessel’s primary activities shall be to carry out cable operations, including laying, repair and ROV inspection. The vessel is 100 m in length with a beam of 18.8 m and a Depth of 7.15 m and shall have a deadweight capacity of 1800DWT. The vessel can achieve an impressive speed of 14.5 knots and has accommodation facilities for 76 persons. The vessel has three cable tanks to carry fibre optic cables. 

The vessel shall be fitted out with a diesel-electric propulsion plant. The power plant shall consist of four generator sets for electrical propulsion power. The vessels propulsion shall be by two main Azipod propellers in the aft and two tunnel thrusters in the forward and the system will be run and monitored by Integrated Automation System and Power Management System.

It will be worth recording that in 2019, CDPLC successfully built and delivered a 113 m Cable Laying Vessel ‘KDDI Cable Infinity’ to Japan and in 2023 the 100 m Cable Laying and Repair Vessel ‘Sophie Germain’ to France. Now CDPLC is carving out a name for itself as a reputed, reliable and trustworthy Shipbuilder for Cable Laying and Repair Vessel in the world. 

With this it marks Colombo Dockyards stamping of presence into the prestigious European market establishing Colombo as a preferred Shipbuilding destination for European Ship Owners.

CDPLC continuously proves its excellence through successful securing and execution of shipbuilding projects worldwide and is the front runner of Sri Lankan industrialisation. 

CDPLC contributes heavily to the National Export earnings from the Shipbuilding sector with much needed foreign currency to the Sri Lankan economy and plays a leading role of uplifting and driving the maritime development strategy of Sri Lanka.