Extending Gulf Marine Services

BY IAN CAMERON

Rolls-Royce has announced plans to boost its naval shipbuilding, repair and refit activities across the Gulf region.

The UK-headquartered company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with United Arab Emirates (UAE) based Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) to provide naval shipbuilding, repair and refit activities across the Gulf region. ADSB carries out shipbuilding, repair and the refit of naval, commercial and military vessels.

The MoU is for the provision of services, with the objective of becoming a preferred service partner to each other. The agreement will include fixed service rates for onsite service attendance and turnkey repair projects in the Rolls-Royce Dubai workshop.

It will also include the provision of spares, technical and commercial support for large tenders and maintenance training of ADSB personnel for Rolls-Royce waterjets.

Leo Pantazopoulos, Rolls-Royce, senior vice president Asia & Middle East – Marine said: “By working with ADSB, located in the heart of the Gulf, we are strengthening our ability to provide regional Governmental and Commercial customers with access to skilled engineers and state-of-the-art facilities, allowing them to repair and overhaul their ships efficiently and with minimum downtime.”

“The agreement creates a strong foundation for a meaningful partnership between our two companies. It establishes a growth platform that will enable us to best serve our customers in the region.”

The contract extends an existing relationship between Rolls-Royce, ADSB and the UAE Navy for both new builds and retrofits, and has the potential to lead to the development of advanced technology products such as Equipment Health Monitoring and remote and autonomous vessels, said Rolls-Royce.

In the past year, Rolls-Royce has secured a number of waterjets spares, services and upgrade orders. This MoU will pave the way for more opportunities, in particular retrofit projects, the company added.