Desan Shipyard

Desan Shipyard is a Turkish yard in the Tuzla shipyard zone at Istanbul, founded in 1970. It is part of the Kaptanoglu Group and carries out ship repair, conversion and newbuilding for both commercial and naval owners, up to Post Panamax size. The yard-operating entity inside the group is KPT Tersane Isletmeciligi A.S., which sits alongside the sister company Desan Deniz Insaat; both trade through the Desan Shipyard site. Docking is entirely afloat, on steel floating docks with a maximum lifting capacity of 49,000 tonnes. Production area at Tuzla is 70,000 square metres, and 148,000 square metres counting the group's Golcuk yard in Kocaeli; 40,000 square metres of that is indoor production, where lifting runs to 340 tonnes. Steel throughput is 40,000 tonnes a year and aluminium 10,000 tonnes a year. A wet slipway is also in use. Conversion and rebuilding is the best documented part of the work. The crane renovation of MV Kavkaz replaced the vessel's original cranes with a new arrangement so that it could work as a transhipment vessel. The full-rigged sailing ship Sorlandet, built at Kristiansand in 1927, was restored and modernised at the yard. The Burgos was rebuilt after fire damage, with steel work and full system renewal returning the vessel to service. In 2025 Desan became the first Turkish shipyard to hold Green Marine Europe certification, an environmental performance scheme for the maritime industry. The yard has also acquired Atlas Shipyard, extending its capacity at Tuzla.