The Western Shipyard (WSY) Group has marked another historic event: the largest floating dock in the Baltic States intended for repairs of the Panamax, Post Panamax and Aframaxtype vessels, which was delivered to its permanent place of operation in July 2020, has accepted the first ship.
Mr Arnoldas Šileika, CEO of WSY Group, emphasised that putting floating dock No. 12, that has a length of 235 meters, a width of 45 meters and a lifting capacity of 33 thousand tons, into operation turns a new page in the Company’s history: completely new opportunities are opening up, which will allow to further strengthen Company’s position in the European ship repair market.
‘This is the beginning of a huge transformation of our Group of Companies, which will provide an advantage in competing in a dynamic ship repair market and ensure longterm, expanding and sustainable activities in the future. With a significant increase in docking capacity, we will pursue the set strategic goals and seek benefit not only for the Company itself but also for the city and the whole country, i.e. we will create a new work and activity culture that will help to attract new customers and ensure their trust and longterm cooperation. This way, we will create a greater added value and strengthen our team by creating new jobs. It is symbolic that this milestone in the activity of our Group of Companies involves several instances of the ‘first time’: the first ship has been accepted for repairs in our floating dock No. 12, the largest floating dock in the Baltic States that has been recently upgraded and delivered to the permanent place of operation, as well as it will be the first repairs for the ship that was built five years ago and has now been delivered to our dock. We hope for a successful start, as it will undoubtedly become an impetus leading to success and prosperity of our further activities,’ noted A. Šileika.
The first vessel accepted by the largest floating dock in the Baltics is Minerva, a 189meterlong and 30.5meterwide container vessel managed by the Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement Cyprus (BSM). The vessel underwent mandatory repairs to meet the requirements applicable to the vessels of that class.