Colombo Dockyard achieves excellence in ship building

RAMANI KANGARAARACHCHI

The Colombo Dockyard believes in excellence as per its vision "Odyssey of Excellence " the catch word invented by one of its pioneers Rohan de Seram which means that there is no end target to their work but continue to be better.

The success of the company today has shown the results of that vision Managing Director Mangala B.P. Yapa said remembering his predecessor.

The mission of the company is to be the leading engineering company in South Asia without confining only to marine engineering.

The Colombo Dockyard Ltd ranked seventh best port in the world,. won the silver medal for Best All Round runner up at the NCE (National Chamber of Exporters) Export Award ceremony under Extra Large Category of Industry and Professional Services held at the Hilton Colombo recently.

The company penetrated into the international market only in 2003 although the first dry dock had come into being in 1906. It is a great achievement to win such a prestigious award within a short span of time of three years, after entering the export market.

"When the business community is recognised by the country it serves as a good motivation for our employees and in the national context it is a great motivation for the country. We believe in team work . In that aspect I am very happy about this achievement and it belongs to our employees " the dynamic Chief Executive Officer of Colombo Dockyard Mangala B.P. Yapa said.

Yapa hailing from Mutthettuwegama in the Uva Province of Sri Lanka was fascinated with ship building from his youth after his Advance Levels and proceeded to Russia on a scholarship to obtain a degree in ship building. He also hold a MBA from Sri Jayawardenapura University. On return he joined the Colombo Dockyard Private Limited in 1984 as a trainee engineer in ship building and reached the top position of CEO in 2004.

His dedication, commitment, and sincerity to his employees magnificiently blended with patriotism is evidence to the success achieved by the Colombo Dockyard today. The year 2006 had been a turning point to Colombo Dockyard to remain as a leading ship repairer and shipbuilder in the South Asian region.

It has recorded an exceptionally high profit of Rs. 607 million from sales after tax, surpassing the target of their management plan in 2005. This is an overall revenue increase by 24% , highest in the existence of the company.

The company has also invested Rs. 800 million on renovation and major improvements of the yard.

With the successful operations of the ship repair business, shipbuilding, heavy engineering, and offshore engineering businesses they have been able to obtain new orders internationally making a significant progress over the years according to the CEO.

The Colombo Dockyard repairs around 200 ships annually and its clientele includes India, Maldives, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Nigeria and Sri Lanka at present. The company has provided over 2,500 employment opportunities to people in different categories including trainees.

The work at Colombo Dockyard begins at 7.30 a.m. with the National Anthem to create a patriotic environment and from then, it is hard work for all of them till 5.30 p.m. The company provides free meals, tea and snacks to all employees on working days and all basic needs such as medical facilities are looked into, Yapa said.

"Also we have a large pool of trainees of around 400 at any given time who undergo training through NAITA and on their successful completion we do absorb them to our permanent cadre depending on the number of vacancies at that time, he said.

Although it is a huge burden to the company we consider it as a social responsibility but it is very necessary that the Government gets involved here as there is no programme which produces demand driven skills in this country, he said.

The management has been able to maintain a sustainable relationship with the trade unions as well.

There was a time when trade union activities retarded the quality of our work. "It is good if you don't have trade unions but on the other hand they are not bad if you are sincere for the workers' well-being with having a good communication network and transparency.

"According to the Japanese the country comes first, company second and self third. We apply the same theory and we are proud to be Sri Lankans," Yapa said.

"With this mindset our trade unions have also improved and now they hold their annual general meetings in a productive manner with half a day training programme on positive thinking so it is better now than it was, Yapa said.

Another policy of the company is that they do not retain any employee after 55 years to give opportunities to the young.

The young generation is moderately advance in certain areas but there are plus points as well as minus but we believe in policies and adopt them accordingly, he said.

"Being islanders we have to depend on the sea. According to Mahawansa our traditional shipbuilders in the past have built a 220 ft long ship to carry 600 to 750 passengers which we have not been able to do so far. Our ancient kings have sent diplomats to Burma by ships and got down Buddhist bhikkus from there by ships.

They have done wonders in water management and irrigation but today we hire Koreans to build our road to Sigiriya built by those kings."

"Referring to the proud history of the country's shipbuilding and engineering capabilities, Yapa said. "We need to create this awareness among our people to get away from the attitude of getting everything from abroad. We are not appreciating our own products today".

Asked about the future plans of the company he said there is a lot of potential to expand in the future provided certain major infrastructure needs are improved.

He said the geographical location of the Dockyard is a great advantage which is well poised to attract many things.

The ships coming here should have sufficient space and other facilities as we do major repairs as a regional company. Our dockyard is designed for the international market. "We can attract vessels from Dubai and our main market is India which has one billion people so we have to be competitive," he said.

"The fact that the dockyard is inside the port have advantages and disadvantages. But we have no other choice as infrastructure was built here," he said.

In 1982 the company has spent US $ 42 million to build one dry dock but now it will cost 10 times more "We are talking of 100-year old dry docks being used today.

"This is where Government policy and vision has to be in line. In 1982 we decided that this will be the single biggest investment. But from '82 to 2006 nothing has happened. So we can't drop Colombo immediately and go somewhere else.

"Colombo is successful because of its connectivity to the world. Sometimes we need so many things overnight we have an office in Singapore. It is a matter of giving a call to the person at that end and telling him to put it in the next flight but if we are in Hambantota how long will it take to reach there from Colombo.

So once the infrastructure is there only we can consider it. Otherwise it does not make any sense.

He explained the importance of the breakwater. "The vessels coming to us are damaged and they need calm waters. Unlike Singapore we are open to the ocean. But it will cost about USD 3000 million to build a breakwater alone, he said.

He said Japanese investors are very careful and they just don't run to the street. He pointed out another important aspect which is human capital development. Once the infrastructure is developed it is necessary to do the capacity building . With us it is a ongoing process . From 1974 to 2003 we developed these things gradually.

We have recruited a large number of engineers from the Moratuwa University. "We have confidence that we can meet these demands of both defence and commercial and we have catered for them.

"Now we are building two, 250-passenger going craft for India. We built a number of tug boats for the Ports Authority. We are looking at various niche markets where we can succeed region-wise. India and the Indian sub continent is our prime market with Middle East coming second.

"We don't rule out Europe, because our proximity to Europe is an advantage. Those are gradual processes.

"We are looking at capacity building within the company then infrastructure and market development.

The company is also considering on passenger craft, small cruise liners, and ferries. Although many questions as to why ferries are not used for tourism from Katunayake to Bentota, it is because of the non availability of a jetty, berthing facilities, and the monsoon, he said. Yapa pointed out that areas like Kudawella, Hambantota, Batticaloa, Beruwela, Oluvuil and Trincomalee have harbours.

There are possibilities of using ferry transportation but there should be an integrated development approach to implement them.

His advice to the younger generation is that Colombo Dockyard started from nothing by a group of people who worked very hard without any comforts. It is not impossible to make it happen if one has courage and dedication, he said.