New facilities incorporated in recent weeks at Bahrain’s Arab Shipbuilding & Repair Yard Company (Asry), along with a portfolio diversification to embrace the construction of power barges and the creation of an offshore services division, place the company in a sound position to capture greater business and hold its own in a fiercely competitive regional market that has seen yards expanding existing facilities or setting up greenfield ones.

New facilities have arisen in Qatar and Oman, while existing ones in the UAE have greatly expanded their capabilities, developments that are proving challenging to Asry but which the Bahrain yard is tackling head on.

Asry has just completed a new 1.38 km repair quay wall and a 200,000 sq m offshore fabrication and loadout area while four shipyard tugs are under construction – all as part of a $188 million expansion project.

The new repair quay wall, located north-east of the existing yard in an area known as Asry Basin, has an alongside water depth of 12 m and can simultaneously handle three 300,000 dwt vessels. The repair quay wall has been designed by the UK’s Royal Haskoning and built by local company Nass Contracting. In looking at the design of the repair quay, Royal Haskoning decided on the gravity wall-type construction for the new repair berth, utilising pre-cast concrete block work, which means a virtual maintenance-free structure.

Royal Haskoning says the key advantage of a gravity wall-type repair quay is that the units are constructed in the dry under controlled conditions using structurally reinforced concrete. A high degree of quality control can therefore be attained which will help ensure that the required design life is achieved without specific protection methods.

Germany’s well-known crane manufacturer, Ardelt, has been selected to design, build and install two new cranes for the repair quay wall. Both new cranes will be installed and commissioned in March 2012. The new cranes are of the level-luffing type, running on rails from Ardelt’s Kranich range of single jib cranes.

One of the world’s largest jack-ups, Rowan’s Bob Palmer, underwent a major work package that Asry Offshore Service handled

Tugs being built by Asry

The four new tugs under construction are designed for work not only in the yard but also for local coastal towage duties.

Designed by Singapore’s SeaTech Solutions International with a materials package from another Singapore-based company, Pacific Ocean Engineering & Trading, all four 25.8 m tugs will replace the yard’s ageing six-vessel fleet of tugs which has been in operation since Asry started business in1977.

All four new tugs are being built by Asry itself on land adjacent to its two large slipways, with the first vessel ready for service at the beginning of the New Year. The tugs are of the highly maneuverable and high-performance Azimuth Stern Drive Design having a bollard pull of 40 tonnes and speed at half load of 11 knots.

In the last quarter of 2011, Asry entered a new era – the building of power barges in a joint venture with the British power generation packaging specialist Centrax Ltd. UK incorporated Asry-Centrax Ltd is set to equip multi-application power barges utilising twin Rolls-Royce Trent 60 aero-derivative gas tubing powered generator sets with the aim of becoming a leading player in the production of barge-mounted power stations. Asry’s role is to design and build the barges in Bahrain.

Specialist offshore division

Three years ago, in a significant development likely to impact very significantly on the company in the years to come, Asry set up a specialist offshore division, although for many years before that date it had been repairing offshore support vessels. But with the creation of Asry Offshore Services (AOS), it has become a major player in the region for the repair and maintenance of offshore jack-up rigs.

The latest facilities and developments build on a series of physical assets the company has accumulated at its yard over the past 35 years. Starting with the graving dock when the yard became operational in 1977, Asry subsequently added two floating docks plus slipways that have a dry berth length of 255 m and can handle ships of a maximum displacement of 5,000 tonnes. Also among the facilities are 12 repair berths totaling 2,700 m and equipment workshops with ample space left for expansions.

Since starting business in October 1977, Asry has repaired (as of September 2011) more than 3,500 vessels aggregating 292 million dwt. Despite the global recession, 2010 saw Asry repair a record number of vessels in one year, 210.  As 2011 proceeded, the company said it would end encouragingly. Its leading customers include KOTC, Mid-East Ship Management, Vela and NCC from the Arab market and Odfjell, B&W Shipping and Springfield Shipping from the international market.

The IMP ballast water convention, which is expected to come into effect soon, will need the retrofitting of 39,000 vesels over a five-year period.  Asry will likely compete effectively for a significant share of the business.

Bahrain Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa praised the strides made by Asry at celebrations marking its 35th anniversary, calling it an “iconic monument” embodying  the success of regional and international cooperation.

The company’s shareholders are the states of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq and Libya.

“Over the past three decades, Asry has played a vital role in supporting and strengthening our national economy using state-of-the-art shipbuilding and repair technology, creating new job opportunities for Bahrainis in various specialisations and radically developing the ship repair industry regionally and internationally, said Asry chairman Sheikh Daij bin Salman Al Khalifa.

“Asry has continued to grow and increase production levels, improving services and maintaining a leading position in the industry while working to minimise the negative impact of the recent financial and economic crisis and confront ever-rising competition in the industry,” added Sheikh Daij.

Asry Offshore Services is fast becoming the jack-up repair yard of choice in the Arabian Gulf

The chairman said the new quay wall would dramatically increase production capacity and enable the company to repair offshore vessels and oil rigs, which was a new business area in which the company was rapidly growing.

Asry chief executive Chris Potter described 2011 as a pivotal year for the yard, saying the completion of the repair quay wall meant that when the market returned from the global recession, Asry would be in a prime position to take on more business and provide the best possible support to its customers.

“Asry has come a long way from being a ‘single dock’ repairer to its position today of a world leader. I’m particularly proud of our expanded technical services within the yard, which is growing year by year. We were originally regarded as a large tanker yard for basic repairs, and then built up a reputation for quality steel renewal and internal tank coating work,” said Potter.

“Today Asry can tackle any type of job required by the world’s fleet. We really are a one-stop shop for all types of technically demanding repair and maintenance work. This is especially the case with our recently established offshore division, Asry Offshore Services, which is fast becoming the jack-up rig operators’ repair yard of choice in the Arabian Gulf.”

Notwithstanding the setting up of new Gulf facilities, Potter said Asry was entering its 35th year of uninterrupted top-quality service to the world’s fleet. “We have the skills, the track record and a globally respected reputation. You don’t just get that overnight.”

In a speech commending Asry, Seatrade chairman Chris Hayman said: “These days it is fashionable to talk about maritime clusters. Asry forms an important part of the maritime cluster of Bahrain and the region which includes major developments in port infrastructure as well as a network of maritime service providers.

“The Kingdom of Bahrain has demonstrated a commendable commitment to the green agenda in its maritime ventures.”

Over the years, Asry marked interesting milestones. In 1982 it fitted what was then the world’s largest propeller, 11 m in diameter and weighing 70 tonnes, to the tanker Wind Escort owned by Norway’s Lars Krogh. In 1995 it became the world’s first shipyard to be awarded the ISO 9002 quality and two years later it became the first shipyard in the Arabian Gulf to open a sludge treatment plant. The following year, it successfully drydocked the ULCC Sea Splendour despite the vessel being 7 m too long for Dock 1. The tanker spent 155 days undergoing repairs. In 1999, the yard entered the newbulding market with the construction of the workboat Shadeed for Kuwait Oil Tanker Co (KOTC). In 2001 it achieved the ISO 9001:2000 quality accreditation and in 2010 it became the first shipyard in the Middle East to achieve the ISO 28000 and ISP20858:2010 quality certification.