Oman DryDock eyes US$200m revenues

Oman DryDock Company (ODC) is eyeing annual revenues of US$200m by 2020, it has been reported. The state-owned company owns and manages the Sultanate’s recently operational ship repair yard at the central-eastern port town Duqm, reported The Oman Observer. The yard’s workforce is also expected to grow to around 4,000 employees, in line with ODC’s aim to emerge as a leading dry-dock in the region, said the company’s Deputy CEO, Khalil Ahmed Al Salmi, at the 3rd Oman Economic Forum. He added that the yard has made significant steps since its soft-launch in April of last year. Over the next 12 months, it dry-docked, repaired and maintained 76 ships of all types and sizes, ranging from LNG carriers, oil tankers and product tankers, to bulk carriers and container ships, among others. While a further two ships are currently under repair, seven more are due for dry-docking in the coming weeks, making a total of 85 ships on its order book, Al Salmi added. Also speaking at the forum, Yahya bin Said al Jabri, Chairman of the Duqm Special Economic Zone Authority (SEZ), described the yard as an "economic engine" that will drive Duqm’s growth as an industrial hub. He added that the yard’s two large graving docks can house up to ten ships of different sizes, all of which can be repaired simultaneously. By the year 2020, it is predicted that ODC will develop into an integrated ship repair facility with the engineering ability to carry out repairs to a wide range of offshore structures and specialist vessels, including offshore rigs, derrick barges, dredgers, pipe-laying barges, and more. Furthermore, the facility will also be outfitted to allow conversions of Very Large Crude Carriers into Floating Storage and Offloading vessels as well as Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessels, reported the newspaper.