Walkers hands over ‘Fat Lady’ to Sanken Overseas Maldives

Walkers Colombo Shipyard (Pvt.) Ltd, a subsidiary of MTD Walkers PLC, has successfully completed the construction of ‘Fat Lady’, a landing craft designed and constructed for Sanken Overseas Maldives (Pvt.) Ltd.

The landing craft was designed and constructed entirely by an in-house team of highly skilled naval architects and engineers, under the guidance of Walkers Colombo Shipyard (Pvt.) Ltd Managing Director Dr. Sarath Obeysekera, was recently handed over to Sanken Overseas Maldives (Pvt.) Ltd at a ceremony held recently in Mutwal Harbour.

“As a result of our project planning and efficiency, we managed to complete the construction of the vessel within three months,” said Dr. Obeysekera, stating that this was an achievement for the shipyard. He further added that the services provided are competitive with any other shipyard in the region.

The landing craft which is a 24.5 metres long and 7.0 metres wide vessel has a draft of 1.4 metres and a deck load capacity of 75 tonnes. This vessel was marketed and sold by Walkers Equipment Limited to Sanken Overseas Maldives.

“The vessel will mainly be used during the mobilization and demobilization stages of construction projects in Maldives,” said Sanken Overseas Maldives (Pvt.) Ltd Managing Director Mevan Gunathilake. He further adds: “This vessel will help us to further optimise our operations and provide an even more efficient service to our clients.”

“The landing craft has been built as per the rules of the Classifications Society and we are confident of its performance and ability to assist our client in enhancing their operations,” stated Dr. Obeysekera.
“The main reason why Sanken Overseas Maldives partnered with Walkers Colombo Shipyard is solely the trust we have with the Walkers CML Group on a corporate level, and to provide an opportunity for a Sri Lankan company,” said Gunathilake. He further adds: “This vessel has once again proved that Walkers Colombo Shipyard is efficient in their output as they have been able to deliver the barge on time with the required level of quality and features.

Following the launching of the landing craft, Sanken Overseas Maldives signed a new agreement with Walkers Colombo Shipyard to build a second landing craft of 200 tonne capacity, 35 metres in length, 8.5 metres wide with a  draft of 2.0 metres.