Oman Drydock Company aims high

The Oman Drydock Company aims to triple its revenue and double its current repair and conversion traffic through a US$60M investment in new facilities, according to the new chief executive, Said bin Hamoud Al Mawali.

Speaking to Tanker Shipping and Trade at Posidonia 2018, Mr Al Mawali referred to the 7-year-old repair and conversion shipyard’s investment plans. “The investments we will do in order of priorities are as follows: floating dock, new hydro-blasting machinery, new winching and railing systems to increase the efficiency of the graving docks, and a 3,000-tonne floating crane.”

These investments are earmarked to take place over the next three years, with the target of doubling traffic to the yard by 2020. The aim is to triple the drydock’s revenue by 2021.

The company is looking to enter the oil and gas fabrication market. “In a 300 km radius, there are about 30 oilfields,” said Mr Al Mawali. This includes the onshore and offshore markets.

“In the case of every single one of these new revenue streams, we will be working with specialist partners. We will be bringing our ability to finance,” he said. As a sovereign entity of the Sultanate of Oman, Oman Drydock Company has access to funds and collateral to speed up the development process, he noted.

The yard has worked on several ballast water management system and scrubber fitments. “We work with Alfa Laval, and [are] in talks with Hyundai on scrubbers,” he said. “We are trying to have at least five different suppliers within the next two months.”

The ambitions do not stop there. Newbuildings are on the horizon. The company is bidding to build some small sub-80 m long vessels, which could be a start of something bigger.

The reason behind the establishment of Oman Drydock Company, and the current plans is the Sultanate of Oman’s diversification programme away from the reliance on oil revenues.