A hull of Nebraska chemical tanker has been laid down at the continuous production line of Nikolaev Shipyard, Smart Maritime Group (SMG), for Dutch VEKA Shipbuilding WT B.V.
It is to be recalled that the contract between SMG and the Dutch company provides for the construction of two tanker hulls. The first vessel of the same project, named Nevada, is already under construction at Kherson Shipyard of SMG. According to the contractual terms and conditions, SMG will produce the hulls, will paint them, will install the general shipboard piping systems and deck outfit. The length of each hull will be 110 meters. Their width will be 13.5 meters and the height of the side – 6.59 meters. The weight will be 1,200 tons and the cargo capacity – 5,320 tons. The construction period of one vessel is 11.5 months. The total value of the contract is over UAH 145 million.
As Vasiliy Fedin, the CEO of SMG, pointed out, the construction of the tanker will be the first real shipbuilding order for Nikolaev Shipyard since 2014. At that time, virtually all foreign customers left the Ukrainian shipbuilding market for well-known reasons. Successful implementation of the tanker construction project will open up an opportunity for the conclusion of new shipbuilding contracts. "We will fulfil this order on time and securing high quality," assured the CEO of SMG.
"Nikolaev and shipbuilders are synonymous words," said Yevgeniy Trushliakov, the rector of Admiral Makarov National University of Shipbuilding. "I congratulate the staff of the shipyard on this order. This is the first spark that is testimony to the fact that the shipbuilding industry can and must be revived in Nikolaev."
In her turn, Lyudmila Alpeeva, Deputy Director of Nikolaev Regional Employment Centre, expressed hope that the laying down of the tanker will mark the beginning of the return of Ukrainian shipbuilders from other countries to their homeland.
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VEKA Shipbuilding B.V. is part of VEKA Group Shipbuilding Company, headquartered in Werkendam (the Netherlands). The history of successful partnership between SMG and VEKA Group numbers more than 10 years. Over this time, SMG built eight chemical tanker hulls for VEKA. In total, 12 vessels of the same class were built for the Dutch market.
Smart Maritime Group (SMG) is Ukraine's largest shipbuilding holding company combining two shipyards – in Nikolaev and Kherson cities.
