Bahrain Ship Repairing and Engineering Company (Basrec) hadits net income for the first three quarters of 2009 falling substantially.

Basrec announced a net profit of BD1.65 million ($4.3million) for the January-September period, down 48 per cent over thecorresponding period of 2008.

Net profit for the whole of 2008 was BD3.7 million, anincrease of 157.6 per cent. That year the company made an exceptional gain ofBD1.02 million from the sale of company shares in Saudi Cement Company.

'Despite the recession, Basrec continued to be busy for thefourth quarter of 2009,' said general manager Didine Saadi.

'We have been successful in competing in the internationalmarket and our repairs calendar is now booked up to the first half of 2010. Ourresources are now at optimum level.

'The company continued to service military and civilianclients. There was a new entry of a fleet from Singapore,' Saadi said whengiving the highlights of 2009.

Over the years the company has repaired vessels based inSaudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, the UK, Malta and Singapore, among other places.

As well as repairs to commercial and naval ships, thecompany performs repairs to containers and industrial pumps through itsnon-marine divisions and associate companies.

The company has a fully owned subsidiary Marine andIndustrial Pump Repair (Gulf) SPC and a marketing division called Teams.

Ships undergoing repairs

It has developed a part of its freehold land in the Saararea by constructing 25 villas which are fully occupied.

Diversification
The company plans to enter the field of heavy engineeringproject management and related consultancy services as well as participatingmore intensely in real estate.

Basrec facilities include a floating dock with a capacity of3,500 tonnes; two slipways each of 80 m length and two repair areas atquayside, the largest being of 170 m length.

Saadi said Basrec had introduced the latest equipment forinspecting and testing as well as a rolling machine. The machine shop is beingexpanded and plans are underway for further expansions to the berthing, dockingand lifting facilities. The company has finalised proposals to expand thedrydocking facility by 50 per cent.

Basrec is certified to ISO 9001:2000 by Lloyds Register.