Bahrain-based Arab Shipbuilding & Repair Yard (Asry), a leading ship and rig repair facility in the Arabian Gulf, today announced the launch of its new Fabrication and Engineering Division, marking a diversification to complement its core functions of ship, rig and naval repair.

The new division, which will focus on engineering and fabricating a range of industrial components, is being positioned as the fourth pillar in the company’s newly defined core services and is part of the ongoing restructuring exercise at the yard since 2017.

“There have been many fluctuations in the maritime market, including very challenging market forces in recent years. To sustain our growth through these fluctuations, the company has grown through many improvements, expansions developments. And today, we are proud to be announcing Asry’s latest evolution,” Asry’s CEO Andy Shaw told a press conference.

“Over the past 40 years, Asry has cemented its reputation in three core service areas: ship repair and conversion; naval repair and conversion; and rig repair and conversion. Now, officially we are adding the fourth core service to Asry’s offering which we are calling Fabrication & Engineering,” he added.

“Fabrication and engineering are already part of Asry’s DNA as they are key elements in our ship and rig repair business. Now we are deploying those years of expertise as their own independent revenue stream,” Shaw said.

The motivation behind this new direction, he said, is the demand for high quality fabrication facilities in Bahrain and the region. According to him, there is currently approximately $490 billion worth of projects in pre-execution phase across the GCC in the target sectors of power, gas, oil, chemical, water and industrial.

“Over the past 40 years, Asry has established itself as the leader in maritime repair, and now there is an opportunity to establish ourselves as the leader in modular fabrication in the Arabian Gulf.

“There is significant growth potential in the regional fabrication sector, starting with Bahrain, where our new ownership structure as Bahrain government-owned entity will provide stability and longevity to meet fabrication clients long-term needs,” Shaw said.

According to Shaw, with the recent injection of capital in the yard, Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (Mumtalakat), the sovereign wealth fund of the Kingdom of Bahrain, is now the majority shareholder of Asry.

Shaw reiterated that Asry is on a good foundation from financial point of view. The yard’s traditional revenue stream accounted for 55 per cent of its revenue. “In terms of revenue, we are seeing improvement from 2017 to 2018 and expect further improvement in the coming years,” he added.

Meanwhile, Shaikh Duaij Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, human resources and general services senior manager, said there has been a 21 per cent reduction in staff at the yard since early 2017 as part of the ongoing restructuring exercise. “Restructuring is an ongoing process,” Shaikh Duaij said.

“I want to emphasise that this new division is to secure future of Asry and will continue to be one of the leading employers in Bahrain,” Shaw added.

The new division has already completed several projects with some of the Bahrain’s major industrial players like Bapco, and Asry is currently in talks with major international EPC contractors to secure larger projects, going forward.

Asry has recently completed the construction of a subsea section of a new wellhead platform that was commissioned by Bapco and Schlumberger through 2H Offshore, the engineering contractor.

“Initially, we are looking forward to support international projects and provide engineering and fabrication expertise incountry and then expand regionally,” said Sauvir Sarkar, new construction and engineering senior manager.

“There are insufficient fabrication facilities in the region, and even fewer in Bahrain. Due to this, much of the fabrication and engineering work is being contracted outside of the region, even from Bahrain. Asry can now be considered a preferred option for fabrication work in the region. We believe regional projects should be serviced by regional companies,” he said. – TradeArabia News Service