Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), the first in the Middle East to perform a complex mid-life refit on sophisticated naval warships, has developed into a trusted manufacturer for major UAE naval projects.

The company is currently working on constructing 19 new vessels including three 64m and two 42m landing craft, 12 high-speed amphibious boats for transporting UAE marines and two 40m barges.

It has also completed detailed specifications for a new order from the UAE government in which it is the prime contractor for a major programme to build six new 67m naval corvettes containing the latest in naval weapons system technology.

"A construction contract with the UAE Armed Forces has now been finalised and an award is expected in the very near future," an ADSB spokesman said. "As the largest indigenous defence contract ever awarded in the Gulf, this contract will be another first for Abu Dhabi and the entire Middle East region."

The spokesman added that "ADSB has several other newbuilding and refit projects under development as well and details are expected to be released in the coming months."

The company's largest contract to date has been the complex mid-life refit of the UAE navy's six 45m missile patrol ships. The four-year project was completed ahead of schedule and within budget during 2000 and marked the first time a Middle East company had ever performed such a complex refit on sophisticated naval warships.

ADSB has a steady turnover of repair work on a variety of commercial vessels including tugs, barges, landing craft, hydrofoils, dredgers and various oil industry workboats. During 2002, the company will handle over 150 repair jobs with most involving dry berthing, but some performed offsite or afloat.

ADSB began operations on a small site in Mussafah in 1996. Based on the company's success, its board of directors approved a $50 million expansion of the facilities that was started in 1999 and completed in early 2002. The expansion has increased the original area by four times, significantly upgraded its shiplift and workshop capabilities and resulted in a growth in employment from about 125 people in the start-up to more than 750 at present.

"This expansion has made ADSB the most modern and capable steel/aluminium shipbuilder in the region. ADSB is also the only publicly owned shipyard in the region that is truly navy-capable (both for refit and new construction) and is therefore a significant strategic asset to the UAE government," the company said.

ADSB has set its sights on developing the capability for composite vessel production as well. Its board of directors recently approved another expansion, which will involve the construction of composite vessel moulding and outfitting shops. The company has already secured the property for the expansion and is currently working on the new facility design. Construction should be underway by the end of 2002.

The UAE government holds 50 per cent of the shares with the remainder being held by more than 14,000 UAE individual nationals. The company was formed through co-operation between the Government of Abu Dhabi and Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), the largest shipbuilder in the US. At that time, NNS was also a major investor, having purchased 40 per cent of the shares. However the UAE government bought back 10 per cent from NNS in 2001 and the other 30 per cent in 2002.

ADSB is engaged in four separate market segments: commercial ship repair, commercial ship new construction, naval ship repair, and naval new ship construction. ADSB's newly completed facility in the Mussafah Industrial Area of Abu Dhabi has seven wet berths; nine open air dry berths; two 85m long ship construction assembly halls with full services; three enclosed ship construction/overhaul sheds with full services; fabrication and machine shops; outfitting shops; electronics/hydraulics clean shop; environmentally controlled blast and paint cells; grit blasting; water blasting; and Classification Society qualified welding. Vessels are lifted/launched via two shiplift systems: a Syncrolift with side transfer system capable of handling vessels 85m in length, 20m in width and weighing up to 2000 tonnes; and a Travelift for vessels of 500 tonnes and below.

ADSB made a net profit of Dh9.1 million in 2001 against Dh4.4 million in the previous year.