We Convert the Stones On Your Road Into ‘Milestones'

With its experienced staff, Yaf Diesel started to provide repair and maintenance services in the past years, after supplying ship equipment and spare parts. It has become an important brand in the sector in a short time. Talking about Milestone, which they have newly established with the slogan "We Convert the Stones On Your Road Into ‘Milestones " about a year ago, Kanıcı said, "In the system we want to implement at Milestone, we are implementing a business policy that values people and is therefore primarily sensitive to the sea and the environment. We adopt a completely transparent management approach commercially. We aim to raise the standards of the ships we serve above the world standards and to establish a management system and standards that are accepted, followed and taken as an example by everyone in the sector.”

Yaf Diesel Chairman of the Board Yusuf Kanıcı talked about the current ships and future targets of Milestone, the ship management company they established to carry their successful activities in the fields of new construction and repair and maintenance to ship management. Kanıcı said, “About a year ago, Milestone was established with the slogan of 'We Convert the Stones On Your Road Into 'Milestones', with the aim of being a strong and leading business brand not only in Turkey but also in the world, in order to provide technical and commercial support to the ships in its operation. In the system we want to implement, we aim to raise the standards of the ships we serve above the world standards, by adopting an operating policy that values ​​people and therefore primarily sensitive to the sea and the environment, and a completely transparent management approach, and to adopt an exemplary management system and system that is accepted and followed by everyone in the sector. We aim to set our standards. There are currently three dry cargo ships under our operation with a tonnage of 6000-6800 dwt, and our ships mainly sail in the Mediterranean, Black Sea, Northern Europe and West Africa regions. Our goal is to float our fleet, which consists of ships of different tonnage and types, and therefore to float the Turkish Flag and the Milestone Pennant, in the world's seas with the least accident and environmental pollution.”

“We trust Yaf Diesel”

Yusuf Kanıcı, who said that they made a 40-ship BSKY Ballast Water Treatment (BWT) system agreement with a Russian operator in the past, explained how the war in that region affected their business. Kanıcı said, “We have more than 200 BWMS projects that we have sold, actively working and conducting. This was a sale that exceeded both the manufacturer's and our expectations. From here, I would like to thank all our customers for choosing BSKY, the only unfiltered UV system in the world, represented by Yaf Diesel, and I hope their trust in us will never be wasted. Because when many of our customers chose us, they said, 'We do not know the manufacturer, we trust Yaf Diesel'. This made me really proud. At the same time, it has placed a great responsibility on us, how happy we are. I would like to proudly say that we trust both ourselves and our producers. More than three years have passed since we first commissioned the system. So far, we have commissioned more than 100 systems only in Turkey and we have not experienced any major problems. We had meetings with a Russian customer who owns three different companies under one group. After purchasing the first 6 ships, they wanted to sign a collective agreement on a fleet basis with a total of 46 ships. By choosing Yaf Diesel for the remaining 40 ships, they also became a reference for many Russian shipowners. They went to their offices and held meetings to express their views on BSKY BWTS.”

We make new agreements with our Russian customers

Stating that there are very serious trade sanctions against Russia due to the ongoing war, Kanıcı said, “We have not had any problems so far. Both the money transfer and the shipyard processes of the ships in Turkey continue as planned. We experience disruptions from time to time due to the pandemic on the one hand and the supply and transportation crises in the world on the other, but we have not victimized any of our customers so far. We had to transport some systems that we planned to transport by sea, by paying high freight rates, by air, but we still did not put our customers in a difficult situation. Due to the sanctions imposed on Russia, some European BWMS manufacturers have stopped sales to Russian customers. Although the war situation is very sad, we started to receive more requests for BSKY BWMS because of this reason. These days, we are making new agreements with our Russian customers.”

Continuing its activities on Ballast Water Treatment System, Yaf Diesel will bring and test a new product this year. Providing information about this product and the Canadian-made Luminultra BQUA PLUS test analysis kit, Kanıcı said, “We attach great importance to ballast water treatment systems. Sampling started after commissioning with new regulations. For this reason, we contacted Luminultra, which conducts tests in accordance with IMO rules, and got their Turkish representation. We have established a commercial partnership with them for both device sales and ballast water testing. For now, we can only test for our customers and ourselves without class approval, but our class approved tests will start soon.”

The supply problem in the Far East is an advantage for our country.

Stating that there are problems in the production of ship equipment and spare parts in our country, Kanıcı said, “This is a very important issue for the Turkish maritime industry. Our production plan and related studies continue, but this is not a problem that can be overcome with one or more companies. Because that requires a whole supply chain. For example, the shipowner company that will repair or maintain a machine needs parts that can be produced in many different factories. For this reason, it is very important to supply all parts from one country and from a single supplier for both transportation costs and fast delivery. You need many manufacturers to produce an equipment. For example, in order to produce the BWTS we mentioned above, you need at least a factory that can process metal, a factory that can produce filters, a few factories for electronic equipment, and a factory that can produce UV lamps and covers. This means that many factories need to work together for a system, that is, a supply chain. The same is true for spare parts. In order to produce all the spare parts of a ship engine, at least 30 different factories are needed, equipped with very different equipment. In the maritime sector, it is necessary to bring these 30 factories together and to be able to work together so that supplies in the domestic market can be made more economically without being dependent on foreign markets, and sales abroad can be made effectively. Otherwise, the efforts of one or more companies will be insufficient. Because it will be more economical and faster, shipowners have to choose to procure all their spare parts needs from a single source in a single country. When the supply chain I mentioned is started to be established, domestic production ship equipment will be produced and foreign dependency in shipbuilding will be reduced, thus domestic production ships with higher added value will be built, and domestic spare parts will be supplied more economically for the ships in operation. Thus, our shipyards build more new ships. Moreover, more ships prefer our country for repair, which makes a great contribution to the sector and the country's economy. For this, I think that serious studies should be carried out on this issue and companies that want to make production should be supported as soon as possible, especially the Chamber of Shipping to which we are affiliated. It is useful to consider that the supply problems experienced in the Far East, especially in recent years, are an advantage for our country.”

Providing information about the regions where Yaf Diesel serves and the after-sales services it provides, Kanıcı said, “We are supplying spare parts to all over the world from our offices in China, South Korea, Japan and Europe. In addition, we can provide service to all domestic and international ports and shipyards in line with the demands of our customers through our own repair team. Regardless of whether the companies are in the country or abroad, it is our priority to be able to offer the most reasonable prices without sacrificing the quality of the parts supplied as Yaf Diesel, and to act solution-oriented and fast while providing service. In addition to the spare parts supply and service, we store the spare parts and equipment of our customers in our warehouse in Tuzla in our duty-free area, exempt from taxes and other storage expenses, until their ships arrive. Otherwise, they often have to pay as much storage or tax as the cost of parts or equipment, sometimes even more.”