Page 16: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 1995)

Harbor, the shipbuilding yard will, in the short term, be used primarily to ease the pressure at the Drydocks. In addition to the two sizable drydocks, one of which is to be enlarged, the yard brings with it numerous cranes, several special- ist workshops, some modern welding machinery and 400 skilled workers. Many, including Mr.

Meilaq, began as apprentices when it was a

Royal Navy dockyard.

Malta has the advantage of being located right in the middle of the Mediterranean between

Sicily and North Africa and on the through routes to the Suez Canal, Cyprus, Greece, Tur- key and Israel from the Atlantic. Little deviation from a normal trading route is not, however, the only attraction of Malta Drydocks as a repair location. Its single site facilities can accommo- date vessels up to 300,000 dwt, the yard has been strike free for 24 years, rates are competitive and it has a reputation for high quality workman- ship. It is fully self-contained in every trade, avoiding the use of subcontractors — and in addition to the drydocks, it has well over a mile of completely sheltered deepwater berths strate- gically lined with cranes having lifting capacities ranging from 50 to 150 tons.

Over the years, the yard has gained distin- guished renown in cruise liner repairs and up- grading but, at the time of our visit, all were cargo vessels, three of which are U.S.-owned.

Both the 540-ft. (164.6-m) Galveston Bay, owned by Afram Carriers Inc., and the East Atlantic

International-owned, 565-ft. (172.4-m) Galaxy were in for deck and hatch repairs, general steelwork replacement, boiler and auxiliary machinery repairs and hull blasting and paint- ing. Mantinea, a 750-ft. (228.5-m), 60,000-dwt vessel, owned by Metro Freighting, was also rA^a Fresh Water . . . Any Time . . . Any Ocean

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Just leaving dock was a 286-ft. (87.3-m) Aus- tralian owned research ship Arctic P, a major conversion which Mr. Meilaq hopes will set the trend for future work to be handled by the

Shipbuilding Division at the Marsa Creek pre- mises. Originally an offshore support vessel, the craft underwent a major extension to the super- structure and general refurbishment of the ex- isting cabins to provide luxury class accommoda- tion. New equipment installed includes a 20-ton deck crane, navigational systems and air condi- tioning.

Mr. Meilaq is confident regarding the future of the newly enlarged Malta Drydocks following the merger with its shipbuilding neighbor. "We will be making cost savings in the obvious over- head areas such as accounts and purchasing and we are already benefiting from a highly flexible and well-trained labor force who have already agreed to cooperate fully. The valuable Marsa facilities which, frankly, have been underem- ployed in recent years, will be far better utilized, partly for newbuilds, partly for repairs and con- versions," he added.

He also expects that, by confining shipbuild- ing activities to smaller specialized vessels, im- proving site utilization and bringing about ad- ministrative economies, the yard's shipbuilding competitiveness will significantly improve. A more aggressive marketing campaign backed by the resources of the larger unified concern is planned.

Vosper Thornycroft Launches QENS

Barzan, Qatar Emiri Navy Ship

Vosper Thornycroft (VT), U.K., launched the first of a new series of fast strike craft for the

Qatar Emiri Navy at its Southampton, U.K., shipyard on April 1, 1995.

The 187.7-ft. (56-m) vessel was named QENS

Barzan in a ceremony performed by Sheikh

Major General Hamad Bin Abdullah Al-

Thani, minister of state for Defence Affairs.

QENS Barzan is the first of four strike craft being designed and built by VT for the Qatar

Emiri Navy and after launching will be fitted out before delivery next year. Subsequent vessels will be delivered during 1996 and 1997.

This VITA class strike craft is another ex- ample of VT's world-renowned family of war- ships which extends from patrol boats to strike craft, corvettes, frigates and minehunters.

VT has produced a series of successful designs in the 165 - 197-ft. (50 - 60-m) range with strike craft also delivered to the Royal Navy of Oman and Kenya in recent years. The Qatar VITA class will be among the most advanced and powerful ships of their size ever built. VT has built 270 ships for 34 navies over the past 30 years.

In addition to the shipbuilding contract, VT will be providing the Qatar Emiri Navy with

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