German Ship Repair Jamaica Limited (GSRJ), the new Caribbean shipyard located in Jamaica, expects to receive its recently acquired (Panamax-size) Floating Dry Dock early in September (2023), dramatically expanding the range of port services available in the Caribbean.
At time of writing, DOCK V was well into its six-week journey from Bremerhaven to Kingston and its new home at the GSRJ’s dry docks on the eastern end of Kingston Harbour.
To be renamed JAM-DOCK 1 once commissioned, the floating dock (beam of 35 metres and 215 metres stem to stern) has lifting capability of 20,000 tons and the capacity to dry dock most of the commercial vessels that call on Jamaican and Caribbean ports. JAM-DOCK 1 will fly the Jamaican flag after registration at the Maritime Authority of Jamaica.
The GSRJ was established as a joint venture in 2016, and has been providing mobile ship repair services in the Port of Kingston since then. With the acquisition of this Panamax-size floating dry dock, GSRJ will vastly expand its services and in the process transform the organisation. In this regard, and ‘to ensure the standards of the ship repair industry is fully met’, the GSRJ management team has been recruiting skilled and experienced personnel from around the world. Immediate plans also include the recruitment and training of Jamaicans. The intention is to develop a cadre of capable local talent trained to international standards.
The new Jamaican shipyard will deliver repair and maintenance services to a range of commercial vessels, including container ships, bulk and breakbulk carriers, tankers, tugs “… and even the naval offshore vessels from the region,” a corporate information document stated. The document revealed the history and development of the GSRJ, from the purchase of what, in the 1970s, was known as the Kingston Dry Docks. It was then owned and operated by a quasi-government entity, the Jamaica Industrial Development Corporation.
GSRJ History
“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 Co. 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 to Jamaica, Peter Harren, who has had a close and longstanding connection to Jamaica and the Caribbean along with his partner Heiko Felderhoff, and Mr. Johnston.
“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 contributed 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 has provided the technical and organizational expertise for the development of the infrastructure and operations.
“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 realization of the vision.
“They were joined in establishing this business by a group of Jamaican investors, principal among which are Pan Jam Investments Limited, SAJE Logistics Infrastructure Limited, the Jamaica Broilers Pension Fund, and UHWI Scheme of Pensions, Jamaica Public Service Pension Fund.
“The financing for the shipyard has been raised mainly in Jamaica and was realized 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.