Mediterranean's largest shipyard only months away

The Besiktaş Shipping Group, a leading company in the Turkish maritime business, will soon complete preparations and begin constructing a shipbuilding facility in the Adana-Yumurtalık Free Trade Zone. Once complete, the shipyard will be the largest of its kind in the Mediterranean Basin. İhsan Kalkavan, the owner and chairman of the Beşiktaş group and a former manager of the Beşiktaş Soccer Club, said his company began preparations eight months ago after obtaining a license to build a shipyard in the region. It then rented 300,000 square meters of land and applied for an Environmental Impact Report (ÇED).
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency yesterday, Kalkavan said he estimates the ÇED will be ready by the first week of January. He said construction will likely start by February or March. The shipyard will occupy 100,000 square meters of land and 300,000 square meters of sea. It will also have two pools, one of which will be 400 meters long and 70 meters wide while the other will be 350 meters long and 70 meters wide. These pools will be used for supertankers exceeding 300 meters in length that need repairs. "The shipyard will even be able to handle aircraft carriers," Kalkavan noted, adding that it will have the capacity to repair 100 ships (400,000 deadweight) annually. Construction is scheduled for completion in three years and will likely cost $100 million. The company will use its own resources to finance the project, which is expected to employ 3,000 persons.