Northwest Marine Lanka broke new ground in Sri Lanka’s boat building industry, with the commencement of the construction of its new boat building facility at the Dikkowita Fisheries Harbour complex in Wattala.
Official at the groundbreaking ceremony was Chief of Staff and Senior National Security Advisor to the President of Sri Lanka Sagala Ratnayaka and Chairman of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board Suresh de Mel.
Northwest Marine Lanka currently manufactures large commercial fiberglass fishing vessels, but with this new boat yard, it aims to expand into the manufacture and export of luxury yachts and speed craft, entering a new era in leisure and tourism craft. The company, which commenced manufacturing and exports in 2008 intends actively promoting nautical tourism in Sri Lanka.
Chairman of Northwest Marine Lanka Jagath Udayakumara unveiled his idea of establishing a training centre for apprentices to build fiberglass naval craft within the Northwest Marine Lanka Dikkowita Harbour boatyard. “This will add employment opportunities for our skilled boat builders not just locally but overseas as well.” He added that Northwest Marine Lanka is collaborating with an Omani partner to launch a boat building facility on Masirah Island in Oman, next year. Currently, boats built by Northwest Marine Lanka are being exported to Mauritius, Seychelles, Comoros, Oman, Senegal and the Maldives.
The Company which began operations in the Dankotuwa IDB Zone is recognised as a registered exporter of fiberglass vessels by the EDB and has been lauded with introducing new technology to boat building in Sri Lanka. Northwest Marine Lanka’s total value of exports since 2008 has been USD 5 million.
A pioneer in manufacturing ‘long line’ fiberglass fishing vessels and also the first to introduce this technology to the Seychelles which added a significant boost to that country’s fishing industry, Northwest Marine Lanka is also known as a trailblazer in Comoros Island adding similar fillip to its fishing industry.
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