“The Middle East is a world-class centre of excellence for ship repair with a number of well respected shipyards already offering a diverse range of services. We are seeing new joint ventures between the region and Asia in the dry dock sector, with the Gulf set to offer the largest ship repair capacity outside of China,” noted Chris Hayman, Chairman of Seatrade, organisers of Seatrade Middle East Maritime. International and regional shipping operators, ports, financiers and maritime professionals will meet in Dubai at the forthcoming Seatrade Middle East Maritime (SMEM) summit and exhibition to discuss the opportunities and challenges that global fleet growth will present to the region as it steadily develops into a world-class centre of excellence for ship repair and refurbishment.