Walu Bay-based slipway, South Sea Slipway Limited is working on a major upgrading project of its slipway and facilities.

The company is currently constructing “lock gates” for the slipway – an investment of $200,000.

Company managing director Radhika Kumar confirmed that this development will allow the slipway to become a “graving dock”.

A graving dock is a large dock from which water can be pumped out; used for building ships or for repairing a ship below its waterline.

The lock gate she explained will be an area where all the work is going to be done and residues are collected and challenged into a treatment plant.

“We are working on one of our big projects and that is to construct a lock gate where we can do all our work and collect all the residues in a treatment plant.

“We are still building it now and it will be ready in another two months time,” Ms Kumar said.

In addition to this, the company is strictly promoting environment protection policies.

“That treatment plant will have three tanks to help collect and keep all the residues in order to be discarded outside instead of it all going into the sea,” Ms Radhika explained.

She said they have been given a standard approval by the Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji to comply with this new regulation – Anti Fouling System on Ships Regulations 2014 of the Maritime Transport Decree 2013.