At Uljanik shipyard’s slipway No.1, on 25th November 2011, the ceremony of laying of two keels for Yards 498 and 499 was successfully organized. Those keels will eventually become ships for the transportation of 54 wagons on the Caspian Sea and which are to be constructed by Uljanik for the Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company.
Each ship has a dwt of 5000 tonnes, length of 154.89 m and width of 17.5 m, with propulsion provided by two Uljanik MAN B6W engines (having the mark 5S26MC6) developing a power of 2000kW at 250 rev/min.
In addition to Mr. Aydin Bashirov, President of the company Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company, his collaborators as well as Uljanik’s leading people were also present at the ceremony of the keel laying. At that occasion the President of the Managing Board of Uljanik, Mr Marinko Brgić, stressed the fact that he hoped that the collaboration between the two companies, and which had started more than a quarter of a century before, would continue and would result in the signing of new Contracts.
Mr. Bashirov emphasized his hope that the ships would be constructed on time and he looked back to the extremely good business collaboration with Uljanik as well as stating the fact that ships constructed in Uljanik are still sailing on the Caspian Sea.
The contract for the construction of Yards 498 and 499 were signed in May 2011 while the planned delivery is scheduled for the end of 2012.
[mappress] World Maritime News Staff, December 2, 2011; Image: Uljanik