Mini-Forum on Ship Repair, Turkey - June 2011

Kalimbassieris Maritime hosted its third annual mini-forum on ship repair in Turkey from 8-10 June 2011.

Kalimbassieris Maritime hosted its third annual mini-forum on ship repair in Turkey from 8-10 June 2011. The event brings together international insurance claims executives and provides an opportunity for them to see damaged vessels and repair works up close. This year the event incorporated visits to two Tuzla shipyards, Gemak and Tuzla (Kiran) Shipyard and one yard in Yalova, Besiktas Shipyard. The visits provide an insight into the operation of a ship repair yard, with the chance to view facilities, see repair work in progress and hear from key yard personnel on how they manage internal issues such as logistics, quoting etc. There is also a strong emphasis on technical and practical issues related to ship repair, with input from Kalimbassieris surveyors and yard project managers.

The mini-forum also provides an opportunity for members of the major international insurance markets to gather to discuss and debate issues related to ship repair, claims handling and the different approaches in the various markets. Charlotte Warr of Sarnia Training presided over the forum session, running a discussion on the use of tendering in different markets and the appetite of insurance claims executives and brokers to become involved/proactive in the claims process.

The technical and practical aspects are tied together in presentations at the beginning and close of the event. To open the Mini-Forum Capt Deger Pamuk of Kalimbassieris Maritime Istanbul gave an overview of the Turkish shipbuilding and ship repair industry. Sasha Dobra of Kalimbassieris Maritime Piraeus gave presentations on practical and technical issues involved in ship repair, such as prefabrication, dry-docking procedures etc, as well as pricing and demand from the yard's perspective, and how these can have an impact upon handling of a claim.

Christina Kalimbassieris, Managing Director of Kalimbassieris Maritime says “The objective of the mini-forum is to give a practical, ‘hands on’ view of the mechanics and business model of a shipyard. We deal with the practical issues around handling repairs in yards every day, and we have found over the years that there is great value in making the realities of this come alive for the insurance community.

“Our goal is to share our insights and experience so that claims handlers can make informed choices around how they deal with the issues that they face. The feedback we get is that actually visiting a yard and seeing first hand how things work makes the theoretical come powerfully to life.”

The event draws claims people from a wide range of experience - some will have had years of experience at sea and dealing with marine claims, whilst for others this will be their first time stepping onboard a vessel in dry-dock. The programme is designed to offer information for all levels of experience and also to allow participants to draw on each other's knowledge and expertise.  One of the participants this year wrote that the event was of value to him professionally "both for the visits to the yard (for general understanding / appreciation of what happens) and also the chance to discuss topical matters with other people in the industry."

For further information on the mini-forum on ship repair in Tuzla, Turkey please contact Sasha Dobra at s.dobra@kalimbassieris.com or by telephone at +30 210 4294444.