KINGSTON, Jamaica – German Ship Repair Jamaica (GSRJ) Limited is now undertaking work on its second ship-servicing project with ‘The Vikrant Dolphin’.

The vessel, which is currently moored in the shipyard in Kingston, is a diving support barge registered in St Kitts and operating in the Gulf of Mexico within the offshore oil industry.

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Senator Aubyn Hill, said the Government has ensured that the appropriate framework has been established to facilitate the industry’s development in Jamaica.

“It is a whole new industry here in Jamaica, and it is not just the GSRJ; it is building a whole new set of industries here in Jamaica. People who must do welding, people who must do electrical work, people who must make this whole dock float. This is a new phase in Jamaica’s economy. I am very optimistic about what this dry dock company… will do for the economy in Jamaica,” he said.

Senator Hill was addressing journalists during a tour of the shipyard on Tuesday.

German Ship Repair Jamaica Limited has, so far, completed restoration and maintenance services for its first client, the heavy-lift vessel ‘Mexican Giant’, which was, in November 2023, berthed at the GSRJ’s 235 metre-long Panamax-size floating dry dock, JAM-DOCK-1, which is anchored at the company’s shipyard along the Sir Florizel Glasspole Highway stretch of Kingston Harbour.

GSRJ Chief Executive Officer, Colonel Martin Rickman said although the shipyard’s construction is still underway, there are plans to install additional docks.

“The immediate plan is to finish that construction, which includes [building] a new state-of-the-art workshop for engine and steel fabrication works. Once this portion, which I call phase one of the shipyard, is complete and… up and running… we are going to be expanding to build more workshops and, possibly later on in the next couple of years, looking at putting in a second or third floating dock,” he said.

The GSRJ’s first-ever floating dry dock was commissioned in the last quarter of 2023. It is equipped with cutting-edge technology and a highly skilled international workforce.

– JIS