GSRJ Shipyard Jamaica acquires floating dry dock for Jamaican-German-Turkish joint venture

GERMAN SHIP Repair Jamaica Limited (GSRJ), a company formed almost eight years ago to provide repair and maintenance services for commercial vessels visiting Jamaica’s ports, has acquired a floating dry dock, which will significantly expand the range of services that Jamaica has to offer to the regional shipping industry.

The floating dock, ‘DOCK V’, will be towed at the end of June 2023 from Bremerhaven, Germany, to its new home port at GSRJ Shipyard, Harbour Head, Kingston, Jamaica. The journey will take approximately six weeks covering over 10,000 kilometres. The dock is expected to arrive in early August around the time of Jamaica’s independence celebrations.

This represents a culmination of many years of effort of several visionary businessmen from Germany, Jamaica, and Turkey. The need for a ship repair yard was obvious. For over two decades, Jamaican businessman, Charles Johnston of Jamaica Fruit & Shipping Company, also had the idea of repairing ships in Jamaica and had leased a boatyard from the Government. The long-term lease for the property required that the existing boatyard would be developed into a shipyard. He partnered with respected Bremen shipowner and Honorary Consul of Jamaica, Peter Harren; his partner Heiko Felderhof and Charles Johnston. Harren has had a close and longstanding connection to Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Johnston was soon joined by fellow Jamaican Kim Clarke of Maritime & Transport Services Limited, who enthusiastically supported the idea of expanding the ship repair capacities in Jamaica.

The Bremer businessman, Uwe Kloska, founder of the Kloska Group, readily joined the ambitious project of developing an industrial ship repair yard in Jamaica and contributes the required expertise in mobile ship repair and the trade of maritime spare parts. The internationally renowned HAT-SAN Shipyard in Turkey, represented by owner and CEO Mustafa Pepe, then joined the group and is providing the technical and organisational expertise for the development of the infrastructure and operations.

The joint venture German Ship Repair Jamaica Limited was founded and has been operating mobile ship repair projects in the Port of Kingston since 2016. The synergies between these experienced maritime businessmen with a wide array of experience in many sectors of the business and the determination of the team eventually led to the realisation of the vision.

They were joined in establishing this business by a group of Jamaican investors, principal among which are PanJam Investments Limited, SAJE Logistics Infrastructure Limited, the Jamaica Broilers Pension Fund, UHWI Scheme of Pensions, and Jamaica Public Service Pension Fund.

The financing for the shipyard has been raised mainly in Jamaica and was realised with the support of the Jamaican investment house, Mayberry Investments, which brought several Jamaican investors and pension funds to the table, as well as the Sagicor Bank, which provided the loan financing.

The new ship repair yard in Kingston is scheduled to open its doors in late 2023. The floating dock, which will be registered with the Maritime Authority of Jamaica, will be commissioned into service and renamed JAM-DOCK I. With a length of 215 metres (Panamax size), a width of 35 metres and a lifting capacity of 20,000 tons, it is capable of dry-docking the vast majority of commercial ships that visit Jamaica and therefore ideally suited for the region.

In recent years, Jamaica has developed into the central hub for shipping in the Caribbean region. The shipyard will introduce an innovative industry to Jamaica, which will propel the creation of subcontracting businesses as well as an increased demand for local services. To meet the need for local workers, GSRJ has developed a European-Jamaican dual training model with the support of the Jamaican Government.

GSRJ is currently recruiting internationally experienced, qualified personnel and trainers and is preparing for the opening of the shipyard and the first repair project in late 2023.