Şimşekler Ship Recycling Shipyard is in the top 100 of the World

Şimşekler Ship Recycling Shipyard was ranked 69th among 100 recycling companies operating worldwide, announced by Recycling International Magazine. Stating that they are proud to represent our country in the international arena, Şimşekler Ship Recycling Shipyard Chairman Orbay Şimşek said, “We dismantled the largest cruise ships of American origin. Likewise, as Şimşekler, we carried out the recycling of ships belonging to the navies of Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany in our shipyard. We are waving the flag of our country everywhere.”

“We are the only country in the Mediterranean basin that does ship recycling properly. Doing it properly means, of course, first of all, doing this job technically properly. In addition, it is necessary to offer offers that make the shipowner happy in terms of economy and take care of the environment and nature. Although there are many shipyards in Europe where shipbreaking is done, this work is done as repair, maintenance and if preferred, ship recycling. Why? Because the labor costs in Europe are very high and this work is not fully focused. Therefore, at this point, it seems not possible for them to compete with our companies. Aliağa is a pilot region in the ship recycling sector in our country. We are fully concentrated on the ship recycling business only in Aliağa in Turkey. We are more competitive. The fact that we have companies accredited to the European Union Ship Breaking Shipyards List makes us even stronger.” Orbay Şimşek, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Şimşekler Ship Recycling Shipyard, who started his speech with these sentences, underlines that although the number of ships recycled in Aliağa ship recycling shipyards seems to be decreasing on a numerical basis, they have increased in terms of lightweight tons (iron weight). Şimşek emphasized that the contribution of the scrap obtained from the recycled ships as of 2020-2021 to our economy is at the level of 650 million USD.

In the world’s top 100 in shipbreaking

Şimşekler Ship Recycling Shipyard, which ranked 69th among the 100 recycling companies operating worldwide, as announced by the Netherlands-based Recycling International Magazine last year, drew attention as the only Turkish company to be included in the list in this regard. Evaluating the issue, Orbay Şimşek said, “First of all, I would like to state that we are happy to be on such a list. I am very happy for our country, my company, and my family. There were many different categories of recycling activities in this list: it is promising to be on the list as a ship recycling company among many different categories such as plastic, scrap, paper, and energy. It is undoubtedly a special honor for us to represent our country in such an arena. We've never been a company that makes daily moves. We have always aimed to make forward-looking medium and long-term plans. This is how we take action as well. At the same time, we are a company that evaluates and pursues what kind of value we can add to the sector, beyond merely observing our commercial concerns. In particular, we take care to make improvements in environmental, technical, and planning issues due to our natural responsibility brought by the industry we are in. Our work reflects positively on both our business and our industry. Thank God we always get something in return for this. This time, their response was to rank our company 69th in a worldwide list.”

Freights affect recycling

Orbay Şimşek, who gives information about the course of the industry these days when freight rates are high, says, “The high freight rates have a reflection on the industry both in Turkey and in the world. In the short term, we felt the repercussions of this situation by 50 percent. However, the fact that the freight rates are high does not mean that the ships do not or will not be recycled. The number of ships sent for recycling is decreasing, but this is not the case for all types of ships. For example; When oil prices drop, the business volumes of PSV (Platform Supply Vessel) type tugs and off-shore oil exploration/drilling platforms decrease. Therefore, they may be sent for recycling. The same is true for oil tankers. Likewise, there may be other types of project vessels, FPSO (Float Product Storage) vessels. I don't think cruise ships will come with the same frequency for a long time, as the pandemic slowly begins to lessen its impact. In short, while the recycling rate of the ships in the rising part of the freight is decreasing, there is an increase in the other parts.

Explaining how long and under what conditions a ship is recycled, Orbay Şimşek said, “There are definite criteria regarding this. There are certain conventions and rules that we are obliged to abide by. First of all, we are subject to the local laws and rules of our country, such as occupational health safety and environmental criteria. Moreover, since our eight accredited shipyards are on the European Union Ship Recycling list, they also have to comply with the rules established by the European Union, and they are constantly inspected. Both the main inspection and at least two interim inspections… In addition, the inspectors of the shipowners whose ships we bid to purchase for recycling can also visit our shipyards. We will open our doors to an inspector from a large company next week. These inspections are carried out both technically and documentally. A very detailed examination is being carried out, from examining whether the ships will be dismantled within the framework of plans that cover a very wide area, from occupational and worker health and environmental safety to waste management, and how the wastes that are or are likely to occur during dismantling will be disposed of.

We also carry out waste management within our shipyard.

Orbay Şimşek, who noted that Şimşekler Ship Breaking Shipyard was built on 36 decares of land, said, “There are 22 companies and 26 parcels in Aliağa Ship Recycling Zone. Some companies are built on two parcels. We are one of them. We have never stopped our shipyard investments. We always invest in our technical team and equipment, and we carry out waste management in our shipyard under the control of our environmental engineers. Undoubtedly, we will continue to invest in the future.”

Şimşekler has a very well-deserved pride

Emphasizing that the ship recycling industry is a really valuable industry in Turkey, Orbay Şimşek said, “It is useful to state this clearly. Here, we create value for our country. We employ in our region. We offer advantages to our shipowners and therefore to the maritime industry. When the ship recycling industry operates at full capacity, it directly creates employment for over 2,000 people. If I speak on behalf of my company; We dismantled the largest cruise ships of American origin in this region. Likewise, as Şimşekler, we carried out the recycling of ships belonging to the navies of Italy, the Netherlands, and Germany in our shipyard. We are waving the flag of our country everywhere and we are justifiably proud of this.”