Turkey's first 3D ship stability software is coming
Ayden Marine, known for its success in shipbuilding design, is launching Turkey's first 3D Ship Stability Software. CEO Ayçın Özsakabaşı said their 16 years of work led to a software that is 4-5 times faster than international competitors.
Ayden Marine CEO Ayçın Özsakabaşı, “In Turkey, engineering programs used in shipbuilding have always been foreign software that we paid a lot of money for,” stating that international program providers acted like a monopoly. He explained, “They started offering products that didn’t align with our purchasing power or the industry's needs, without us having any say in it. This created a bottleneck in the market. I’ve always been interested in software, even working on it as a student. After working on stability at Türk Loydu, I thought, why not combine software and stability, and started the project 16 years ago. This software became Turkey's first 3D ship stability software.”
When asked why it took 16 years, Özsakabaşı explained, “We actually uploaded the program’s promotion to YouTube 9 years ago, and 80% of the program was completed by then. During those years, many major events happened, like the Russian plane being shot down, the Atatürk Airport attack, and the coup attempt. We overcame all of that. When we were about to open an office in the Netherlands, the pandemic began. All these challenges forced us, like many others in Turkey, to scale back in some areas. We didn’t receive external support for this project. Our main field is design, and we funded this project by investing profits from our success in design. The pandemic wore us down like it did for every company. After a period of stagnation, we lost some morale, so we put the project on hold. But during this time, we still used the program internally. After the pandemic, we decided to continue from where we left off. The industry had a need for it. It was meant to be today. It’s late, but it’s strong.”
“This is a relay race,” said Özsakabaşı, explaining, “First, I need to clarify something. We are creating Turkey’s first 3D ship stability software, but before me, many senior engineers worked in this field. Everyone brought it to a certain point, but the conditions in our country didn’t allow for it to be fully realized. Let’s think of this as a relay race. I believe I took the baton from those senior engineers. In the future, I believe young people will take this baton from us and further develop it.”
He continued, “We are currently in the testing phase of the program, and university students are helping me. They’re learning about the subject while testing the program. The new generation is sharp. They understand and do whatever you ask them to do. I’m hopeful for the future, they’re very interested. When I first started working on this software 16 years ago, the industry wasn’t very interested. We couldn’t explain it to them. But now, with advancements in technology and the integration of artificial intelligence, everyone is showing interest, especially the younger generation. I believe they will take this and elevate it to higher levels with the knowledge we provide. The quality of engineers in our country is better compared to engineers around the world.”
Özsakabaşı, "We are not producing the same performance or similar products as our international competitors," and continued, "We continuously test the same models and ships as those programs. I’m confident that we are releasing a program that is at least 4-5 times faster. We’re proud of that. We’ve already caught the attention of our international competitors. They are following us on social media. Our close relationship with the industry, working together as a team, and being closely connected is important. I don’t think this spirit exists in many places around the world. As part of this spirit, I’ve signed off on such a project. Other colleagues are also doing amazing things in their respective fields."
Özsakabaşı shared details about their international goals, saying, “I will never forget where I started in this business. Due to foreign companies coming to Turkey and selling these programs at very high prices, while we couldn’t use them or found them difficult to use, we are now introducing a project to the global market. Of course, we never forget where we came from. We will offer this program for free to various universities so students can use it. We also plan to help companies in the sector that cannot allocate a budget for such programs. We’re considering the public benefit aspect of the program as well. I know the challenges I faced, and the ones my colleagues have faced. As a Turk in Turkey, I will provide all the support I can for learning and spreading this work. For international expansion, we plan to start in Europe and open offices. Gradually, we will make moves through promoting the program, making sales, and demonstrating its quality. Initially, we plan to start with representation, and we will adjust according to the situation.”
Özsakabaşı, "I also follow what our competitors are doing," stating, "I watch to see what they’ve done and whether we can do it too. We have a lot of confidence in ourselves. I don’t think any program will catch up to the speed of ours for a long time. This is the result of years of effort and hard work. We are experts in this field. Since our focus is on stability, we’ve calculated every little detail to get to this point. Technically, there are about 1.5 million lines of code. Just think about how long it would take to translate those 1.5 million lines into words. Every line contains blood, sweat, and tears. We’ve poured our soul into this; we didn’t approach it as just a project. What the competitor does doesn’t matter. If we don’t like what we’ve done, we don’t care if the competitor is far superior—we won’t be satisfied until we like it. We continue working until we get there. In that sense, I believe we’re on the right path. Perfectionism does slow us down a little, but we’re working on overcoming that. We’ll keep moving forward in the coming period. The feedback we get from the industry gives us strength. Their positive responses motivate us even more."
Özsakabaşı stated, "We have been selling loading software for commercial fleets in Turkey and worldwide for years. We also provide stability software for Turkish military ships. We are involved in design work as well. This field is our first love; its value is different. Honestly, the work we’re doing here excites us much more than designing a new build. It's not just the company that’s invested in this; our families and the families of our employees are also part of it. I believe we’ve signed off on a project that makes our sacrifices worthwhile."
Özsakabaşı mentioned that they will organize an event on April 16th to introduce the software, saying, "One hour before the promotional cocktail, we will give a technical presentation to the engineers who are using the program and working in this field. After that, the cocktail and the night will begin. The purpose of this event is to share our happiness with the industry. Because this is the result of hard work day and night, and there needed to be a celebration for this achievement. Rather than celebrating this success privately, we wanted to celebrate it with the people who add value to our lives, with the brothers, sisters, and colleagues who are with us. Also, since Turkey now has such a professional program, we wanted to make it a historic night. Ümit Besen and Pamela will perform at the event. Both have very high energy, and we specifically wanted high-energy individuals for this kind of night. Hopefully, the participants will enjoy it."
