Gulf Ship Repair facility Arabian Ship Repair Yard (Asry) of Bahrain and Hydrolink, the Sharjah-based specialist engineering company, have teamed up to provide a complete range of hydraulic services to vessel owners and operators.

The two companies have signed a co-operation agreement that will allow Hydrolink and Asry to extend the services they offer to mutual clients.

Hydrolink are providing hydraulic experts from Sharjah together with specialist hydraulic repair and test equipment to fit out a purpose-built workshop provided by Asry.

"Asry and Hydrolink have found synergy in combining the unique strengths that each offers to a mutual customer base. This has allowed them to create a common service of even greater value to the regions ship owners and operators," a statement said. "Hydrolink are determined to further develop relationships which can add value to our customers. We will tirelessly seek new ways to enhance service levels, improve quality and reduce cycle times," said Hydrolink general manager Alan Bryden.

The two ISO 9001 quality registered companies have found a common foundation on which to build improved customer care and extend their service capability - something that can only be good for their customers.

The announcement of the new partnership followed a busy third quarter for Asry.

The yard has been completely full since the beginning of the year and to date some 42 vessels have been repaired. The last three months saw 23 vessels being repaired. Of these four were of the ULCC and VLCC classes with the largest being the Stena King at 457,927dwt. A further six vessels were over the 40,000dwt size.

As is the norm with Asry there has been a large diversification in the number of different types of vessels that have been repaired during this period. These have ranged from large tankers to bulk carriers, RoRos, LPGs and general cargo and diving support vessels. Work has also been completed on tug boats and floating docks.

The range reflected Asry's capabilities in being able to turn its hand to almost any type of repair, no matter the size and complexity of the job. It is due to the yard's flexibility and willingness in being able to handle different types of contracts that it has built up a reputation as one of the leading ship repair yards in the world.

VLCCs and ULCCs on whom insignificant repairs were completed included the Al Tahreer at 284,532dwt, the Tataki at 239,999dwt, the Berge Bragd 310,999dwt and the Stena King at 457,927dwt.

Other vessels have included the Olympic Sponsor 96,547dwt, Joharat Qatar 91,717dwt, Armonikos 61,748dwt, Berge Commander 56,875dwt, A1 Mahad 48,530dwt, Saudi Abha 42,600dwt, UCO XXX 30,960dwt, Shaktidoot 29,999dwt, Vishwadoot 29,999dwt, Spring 29,597dwt, NCC Madinah 28,054dwt, Bow Sea 28,085dwt, and the Stolt Advance 23,369dwt.

The last quarter has also proved to be an extremely busy period for steel repairs with over 2,046 tonnes being replaced across a broad spectrum of vessels. This represents an increase of some 64 per cent over the first three months of the year.

Similarly there has been no let up in the high demand for painting services over this period. During this time more than 1 million square metres of painting was completed, representing a 95 per cent increase on the first three months of the year. This increase in demand has been brought about due to the high quality of work that ASRY was able to undertake on all types of vessels.

Asry has now established itself as one of the leading yards in the world for blasting and painting services and is now specialising in complex vessel such as LNG and LPG carriers, which require extremely high quality painting standards. This reputation has meant that more and more discerning owners are now diverting to the shipyard, specifically for blasting and painting contracts along with steel repairs.

For the first time Asry will be exhibiting at the Shiprepair and Conversion Exhibition in London from 27 to 28 November. Present at the stand to meet guests and discuss the range of services that Asry has to offer will be representatives from Asrymar, the London sales and marketing arm of Asry along with senior personnel from Bahrain.