SHIPPING SERVICES
the bid, and there is no indication whether the present owners of the concession will apply for an extension as allowed in their contract or that they are in conversations with Panamanian Authorities on the future of the country’s only dry dock. The shipyard consists of three dry
docks, with its largest dock having the same dimensions as the Canal locks chamber thus enabling it to accommodate Panamax-size vessels. The yard includes wharfage and workshops that comprise 12,000sq mtr and Braswell Shipyard is able to conduct drydockings, surveys and also emergency and damage repairs on both the Balboa (Pacific) and Cristobal (Atlantic) sides of the canal. The yard, built and operated by the Panama Canal Co in the early 1900s, was transferred to Panama’s government in 1979 after the Panama Canal Treaty was implemented. In 1991, Braswell International was awarded a 20-year concession to operate the ship repair facilities. In January 2006, the shipyard concession was sold to Spain-based group Fextun (Fabrica de Exquisiteces de Atun), which is involved in the tuna industry, tanker market and other marine sectors. The owners have invested in new equipment and transformed the shipyard into a first class operation that services over 100 vessels a year. The company purchased three cranes, four forklifts, a high-pressure washing machine and hydro-blasting equipment. Space for the larger drydock at Braswell Shipyard is sold out all year long.
Only 2% of all vessels serviced at the shipyard were from Fextun’s fleet, with international customers accounting for the remainder. MEC Group is constituted by four
companies and eight divisions that are all related to the maritime sector. The group comprises MEC Shipyards for new building and shipyard repairs; MEC Heavy Industries for all heavy steel fabrication; MEC Marine Contractors for port & channels maintenance and construction; MEC Repairs for afloat maintenance and ship damage repairs; MEC Stores for ship chandler and ship supplies; and Underwater Services, a commercial diving company, that has just achieved an impressive record of over 200 immersions on the Panama Canal Expansion with no accidents. During 2011, MEC Heavy Industries together with MEC Shipyards performed the first new building project in Panama, under ABS Class Approval, following ABS offshore construction rules and with certified welders under ABS, LR and BV. ‘This project is a milestone in Panama maritime industry and a big step for Panama as it permitted transfer of technology and engineering from the United States to MEC. This is a process that will help the company lead the efforts to take advantage of the Free Trade Agreement between Panama and the US when the FTA is ratified by the US Congress,’ says MEC Group president Marvin Castillo. In August 2011, MEC Marine
Contractors, the new division of the group, deployed its fleet of marine construction equipment, that consisted of its rebuilt 4,000 HP tug boat (MEC Salvage), a 280ft – 100tonne crane construction barge (MEC Barge I), a 2,400 HP twin push tug boat (MEC Towing), and three working boats (MEC Repairs, MEC Fast and MEC Divers). The group’s entrance on the marine construction market was a success as it resulted in $20m of awarded contracts. The Panama Canal Authority Fleets and Equipment Maintenance Division executes all repairs to the Panama Canal’s tugboats, barges, launches, dredges, floating cranes, spillway and locks gates and mechanical flow control devices, land based heavy equipment, machinery and vehicles at its shipyard, and other industrial and marine repair facilities throughout the Canal’s operating areas. The historical shipyard drydock, located at Mount Hope on the Atlantic side, was built by the French Compagnie Interoceanique du Canal de Panama in 1886, as testified to by an engraving on the walls. It was expanded in the 1930s by the US Panama Canal Company, which used it extensively. The Shipyard has two docks: dock 14
that is 142mtr long and dock 15 that is 270mtr long. Both docks can handle vessels with a draught up to 10mtr. In addition, the division has a synchro-elevator with a lift capacity of 1,720 metric tonnes that lifts and transfers vessels and lock gates from the water into its eight repair areas
MEC Shipyards – new buildings and repairs PANAMA MARITIME REVIEW 2011/12 77
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