Haliç Shipyard is 566 Years Old

The 566th anniversary of the Golden Horn Shipyard, the center of Turkish shipping and the oldest living and working shipyard in the world, founded 566 years ago by Fatih Sultan Mehmet, was celebrated. Speaking at the ceremony held at Haliç Shipyard, the last remaining shipyard from Tersane-i Amire, İBB City Lines General Manager Sinem Dedetaş said, “This is the place where Turkish Maritime history was formed. When we came to the management, the shipyard was actually closed. But by increasing production activities, we have activated it both as a maintenance-attitude and a new construction shipyard.” said.

III. At the ceremony attended by our employees, at the beginning of the dry dock, which was put into service by Selim in 1790, Dedetaş, accompanied by İsmail Yılmaz and Mustafa Çakıroğlu, the oldest and most experienced employees of the shipyard, and Simge Karakurt, the youngest employee of the shipyard, nailed the 566th Year age plate and cut the birthday cake of the shipyard.

HALIC SHIPYARD CONTINUES TO CREATE ADDED VALUE

We have restored the shipyard quality to Haliç Shipyard, which has carried out many first productions since 1455, such as galleys, galleons, steam passenger ships, car ferries, and our ferryboats that are still in service. We opened our shipyard, which is almost closed to the outside, to the private sector, and we started to maintain our own City Lines ferries as well as the ships coming from outside. We increased the turnover of the shipyard, which was 1 million when we took office, to 2021 million by 125. Today, in addition to the maintenance and repair of an average of 65 foreign ships per year, we have also started the construction activities of our Sea Taxi, the production of which continues in the Haliç Shipyard in 2021. Our shipyard is located in the position of “The World's Oldest Living and Producing Shipyard” and continues to create added value.

“HALIC SHIPYARD SHIPPING IS THE PLACE OF SHIPPING IN TURKEY”

İsmail Yılmaz, who was nicknamed Maçkalı, graduated from the Shipbuilding Vocational High School located in the shipyard in the 1980s and is the oldest employee of the shipyard, pipe and machine workshop foreman, drew attention to the importance of the shipyard by saying, "Haliç Shipyard is the place of shipping in Turkey."

The youngest employee of Haliç Shipyard, 23-year-old Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Engineer Simge Karakurt, stated that he considers himself lucky to work in a place with nearly 6 centuries of experience and said, “The past sheds light on us in all the works we do here. There is a lot I can learn from both our masters and managers.”

Emphasizing the vast knowledge of the shipyard, Shipyard Inspector Yağız Yetkin Azizler said, “It is a great feeling to be a part of this accumulation and to carry it forward. We work on looms from WWII and in pools that are 300 years old. This is a great opportunity and I am happy to have this chance.”