Colombo Dockyard's second anchor handling tug to sail in March

by Imantha Caldera

The second 80 ton anchor handling tug supply vessel "Great Ship Amritha" built for an order of four by Colombo Dockyard (PLC) is due to be delivered to Great Ship (India) Ltd in mid March. The 80 ton anchor handling tug supply vessel "Great Ship Amritha"is similar to the "Great Ship Anjali" delivered in January this year.

Colombo Dockyard Marketing Manager, ship building Prince Lye said: "the "Great Ship Amritha" is valued at $ 15.25 million and this vessel will save foreign exchange for the country.

Colombo Dockyard (PLC) has already made arrangements to deliver the enormous 80 ton anchor handling supply vessel in mid March. Construction work on the "Great Ship Amritha" began 16 months ago.

He said: "it was a challenge and an achievement to have built this vessel during this period. If this order was not undertaken it would have gone to some other foreign ship building company. If this happened we would not have had the opportunity to show our expertise in this field and we would have lost valuable foreign exchange.

The tug supply vessel also proved our capability and it shows that we have a capacity to build ships within a short time. We always need the advice of our clients to suit their requirements. This tug vessel has an overall length of 63M and a speed of 13 knots.

The credit for building such a tug of high quality goes to the Managing Director (CEO) Mangala Yapa, staff and the employees of Colombo Dockyard (PLC).

The "Great Ship Amritha" will join her sister vessel Great Ship Anjali after March for the Great Ship (India) Ltd. What is significant is that the international shipping community is aware of our talents and capabilities, he said.