Shipyard in Focus: RMK Marine Builds a New Generation of Ships in Türkiye

Shipbuilding rewards experience, but today's rapidly evolving maritime market increasingly demands something else: a willingness to build ships that have never been built before.

For Türkiye's RMK Marine, that combination of experience and experimentation is defining its position in the global shipbuilding market. RMK Marine, as one of Türkiye’s leading shipyards, has the capability to build vessels up to 200 meters in length and 28,000 DWT, operating within modern shipyard facilities covering a total area of 160,000 m² in Tuzla/Istanbul and Yalova. With new Yalova shipyard investment, the RMK Marine Tuzla facilities will focus exclusively on commercial and military projects. In this way, both yacht and shipbuilding capacities will be significantly increased through separate, specialized facilities. RMK Yachts will also be positioned as a global brand and a strong player in the megayacht market. Relocation to the RMK Yachts Yalova Shipyard is planned to begin in the first quarter of 2027, with full operational capacity targeted for 2027.

The Istanbul-based shipyard, part of Koç Group, operates across commercial shipbuilding, naval vessels and superyachts, while a growing portfolio of alternative-energy projects — from wind propulsion and methanol-ready ships to LNG/bio-LNG and electric technologies — has become a centerpiece of its strategy.

The yard has delivered everything from tankers, tug boats and offshore vessels to fast patrol craft and award-winning yachts. More recently, some of its highest-profile projects have centered on alternative propulsion technologies and fuels.

A prime example is Neoliner Origin, the 136-m sailing RoRo vessel delivered in 2025. It is being followed by MIARAKA, a 91.3-m sailing container vessel scheduled for delivery in 2027, as well as Celsius, an LNG and bio-LNG bunker tanker, and T. Florya, the first of two new-generation 12,000-dwt oil/chemical tankers for Ditaş Tankers.
Together, they illustrate RMK Marine's strategy: rather than betting on a single pathway to maritime decarbonization, build competence across several.

Image courtesy RMK Marine

A Broad Shipbuilding Foundation

RMK Marine's history stretches back to 1978, when the shipyard was founded in Istanbul's Haliç, Istanbul district to construct steel, aluminum and composite vessels. It moved to its present Tuzla, Istanbul location in 1984 and was acquired by Koç Holding in 1997.
Its portfolio illustrates its breadth. Commercial deliveries have included chemical and oil tankers, asphalt/bitumen carriers, tugboats and workboats. RMK Marine also built the multipurpose offshore construction vessel North Sea Giant, delivered in 2009, while its naval credentials include four Search and Rescue vessels constructed for the Turkish Coast Guard.
Its superyacht business adds another technology and quality benchmark, but the diversity is important for another reason: RMK Marine's newer sustainability-focused ships are being built on an industrial foundation encompassing commercial, naval, offshore, workboat and yacht construction.

Neoliner Origin: Putting Wind Back to Work

Perhaps no vessel better encapsulates RMK Marine's current direction than Neoliner Origin.
Delivered to Neoline Armateurs in 2025, the 136-m ship was built by RMK Marine as the world's first sailing RoRo vessel, using wind as its principal source of propulsion for commercial cargo service across the North Atlantic.

The vessel can carry approximately 500 vehicles or 265 TEU, with a cargo load of about 5,000 tons at design draft. Its defining technology is a pair of foldable solid sail rigs providing 3,000 sq. m. of sail area. RMK Marine said wind propulsion can cut fossil-fuel consumption by more than 80% compared with an equivalent conventional vessel and potentially reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by as much as 90% on transoceanic voyages.

The vessel combines wind propulsion with sensor systems and weather-routing technology to optimize its course against wind and sea conditions.

“As the only shipyard in Türkiye to realize the wind-powered sailing Ro-Ro vessel project, we are honored to deliver the world's first sailing Ro-Ro vessel — an exemplary achievement on a global scale,” said RMK Marine CEO Dr. Utku Alanç.

Image courtesy RMK Marine

MIARAKA: Wind Moves into Containers

Neoliner Origin was not a one-off experiment.

RMK Marine is now building MIARAKA, described by the yard as the world's first sailing container vessel, in cooperation with France's Windcoop and Zéphyr & Borée.

Designed by Delta Marine  91.3 m in length MIARAKA, winner of the “Sustainable Ship Design” award at the Breakbulk Green World Awards 2026 has capacity for 210 TEU, including 40 refrigerated container connections, and approximately 2,500 tons of cargo. The propulsion concept centers on three CWS wing sails totaling 1,050 sq. m., supplemented by a 1,200-kW four-stroke ABC main engine driving a Berg controllable-pitch propeller.

The ship is intended for the Marseille-Madagascar trade, with RMK Marine saying its sail system is designed to reduce carbon emissions by as much as 60% compared with conventional fossil-fuel operation on the route. Delivery is scheduled for the second quarter of 2027.

“Maritime transportation is the cornerstone of global trade and an essential part of logistics,” Dr. Alanç said. “Therefore, developing innovative solutions to minimize environmental impact is of utmost significance.”

For RMK Marine, the project extends the experience gained with Neoliner Origin into another commercial cargo segment.

Image courtesy RMK Marine

Celsius: Supporting the Alternative-Fuel Supply Chain

Wind is only one branch of RMK Marine's alternative-energy portfolio.

The yard has also started construction of Celsius, a 112.76-m LNG and bio-LNG bunker tanker developed with Sirius Shipping and Gasum Group.

Designed by FKAB the vessel will have 7,800 cu. m. of LNG capacity and incorporate a 27.7-MW gas combustion unit, allowing Celsius to provide cooling-down and warming-up services for other vessels' fuel and cargo tanks.

The capability positions Celsius within the infrastructure needed to support alternative marine fuels. While LNG remains a fossil fuel, RMK Marine points to the ship's ability to handle bio-LNG as an important part of its decarbonization potential. According to the yard, fully renewable bio-LNG can produce lifecycle greenhouse-gas reductions of up to 90% compared with traditional fuels.

“At RMK Marine, innovation goes hand in hand with responsibility,” Dr. Alanç said. “The adoption of alternative fuels reflects our commitment to shaping a cleaner future for maritime transport.”

Image courtesy RMK Marine

T. Florya: Future-Proofing Tankers

Another piece of the strategy is T. Florya, the first of two 12,000-dwt oil/chemical tankers soon to be delivered for Ditaş Tankers.
The 125-m vessel, designed by Delta Marine, emphasizes operational efficiency, cargo flexibility and safety, but its most forward-looking element is its methanol-ready infrastructure. Its main engine is designed to be convertible to dual-fuel operation using methanol, giving its owner additional flexibility as fuel availability, regulations and costs evolve.
The second vessel in the project, T. Tarabya 12,000-dwt oil/chemical tanker, is scheduled to be launched in September 2026, marking another important milestone in the project.

Sustainability Without a Single Bet

The common thread running through RMK Marine's current portfolio is not one fuel or propulsion technology. It is diversity.

Neoliner Origin and MIARAKA exploit wind. Celsius supports LNG and renewable bio-LNG. T. Florya is designed for future methanol-ready conversion. RMK Marine also identifies hybrid and full-electric vessels among the alternative-energy solutions around which it is developing shipbuilding capability.

That technology-neutral approach is particularly relevant as shipowners make 20- and 30-year asset decisions against a regulatory and fuel landscape that continues to evolve.
RMK Marine's recent projects provide tangible evidence of where it intends to compete. Neoliner Origin is already at sea; T. Florya is moving toward delivery; MIARAKA and Celsius are taking shape in Tuzla, Istanbul.

Each attacks emissions from a different direction, but collectively they demonstrate the yard's central thesis: the next generation of commercial ships will not necessarily look, operate or be fueled like the generation that preceded it.

For RMK Marine, that transformation is not waiting beyond the horizon.

It is already on the building berth.