British News Agency

Speaking to the Hibya News Agency during the Global Strategies in Defense and Aerospace Industry Conference held in Antalya, ARES Shipyard CEO Utku Alanç made a statement.

Alanç stated that 90% of what they design and produce are export products and said, "We are currently in a project of our Defense Industry Institute. We are producing a total of 188 boats for the Coast Guard, General Directorate of Security, and Customs Administration."

"We currently have over 40 boats in service in Qatar"

Alanç argued that the area they specialize in shipbuilding military boats is not performance-based and said, "Boats larger than 90 square meters are not within our expertise. In this area, our target markets were mainly the Middle East and Africa. We chose Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman as export countries. Especially in Qatar, we currently have over 40 boats in service."

Alanç pointed out that they made Turkey's first military boat export to the Sultanate of Oman and said that the project was completed about 1.5 years ago.

"The increasing diplomacy allows us to do business a little easier"

Alanç highlighted that they have boats in countries such as Africa, Tanzania, and Nigeria and said, "We have semi-military patrol ships in service. Our activities in the same market continue intensively. The policies pursued by the Turkish Republic in Africa and the increasing diplomacy make our job a little easier."

"We introduced the ULAQ brand in 2021"

Alanç said that ARES Shipyard has a serious investment in research and development and support in terms of personnel, and continued his statement as follows: "Together with Meteksan Defense, we introduced Turkey's first military armed unmanned sea vehicle project ULAQ brand in 2021. We started our tests with a guided missile shot, in fact, with an actual shot trial. In a few weeks, we will have a delivery to the Navy. With our new armed unmanned sea vehicle, we have realized both surface and underwater defense concepts."

Alanç recalled that they made a kamikaze boat launch at the IDEF Fair last year and added, "We have also completed the production of this boat of ours. We are conducting our own tests. Hopefully, we will add a new export project to Turkey soon."

ARES Shipyard is more focused on defense industry products, but they also have commercial products. As long as there is export, we are open to all kinds of product ranges. In this regard, we are also making new investments. For example, we currently have an export in progress to a British company."

"We must not forget Europe"

Alanç also mentioned the goals of signing export contracts for wind turbine ships and said, "We have also ferries in service in Qatar for about 6-7 years. Our commercial target is primarily Europe. In this way, we want to get out of the cycle. The Gulf is a good market, but we must not forget Europe. There is also considerable demand and a good market there."

"Regulations, especially on the sea side, are constantly increasing"

Alanç said that regulations, especially on the sea side, are constantly increasing and said, "By 2026, almost all countries in the world will have many sanctions. We are currently working on alternative energy solutions for propulsion systems. We are not a propulsion system designer or manufacturer, but we are looking into how we can integrate alternative energies into our designs and how we can develop new designs in that direction."