International Maritime Industries News

Saudi Arabia’s Ras Al-Khair Special Economic Zone (SEZ) said it is seeking local and foreign investors to help boost the Kingdom’s maritime infrastructure.With an initial area of 20 square kilometers, Ras Al-Khair SEZ, operated by the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, is an expanding zone with two focus areas, The King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services, and the Offshore Cluster supply chain. The SEZ is located next to Ras Al-Khair Port, the Kingdom’s newest industrial port.Ahmed M.

In the 45 years since the Arab Shipbuilding & Repair Yard (ASRY) opened on reclaimed land in Bahrain, the Middle East has become one of the world’s ship repair hotspots. A broad range of shipyards now service both regional and global markets.Regional yards have a ready market, with hundreds of offshore rigs working across the region together with the service ships that support them. Then there are thousands of tankers and gas carriers that arrive each year to load energy cargoes for far-flung destinations.

International Maritime Industries (IMI), the largest shipyard in the MENA region, has expanded its partnership with Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) through a technical service agreement to further enhance its shipbuilding capabilities.Under the agreement, HHI will provide technical assistance and consulting services in Very Large Crude Oil Carrier (VLCC) engineering to IMI, reflecting its commitment to supporting the development of IMI’s shipbuilding capabilities and engineering services since its launch in 2017.The agreement was signed by Dr.

International Maritime Industries (IMI), which describes itself as the largest shipyard in the MENA region, and offshore construction firm Lamprell on Tuesday announced the successful completion of the load-out and float-off of the first jackup drilling unit being constructed for IMI.The jack-up rig will now undergo intensive mechanical completion and commissioning before being transferred to IMI’s yard in Ras Al Khair, Saudi Arabia, for final commissioning before going on a contract…

International Maritime Industries (IMI), which describes itself as the largest maritime yard in the MENA region, has signed a Joint Venture Agreement with Zamil Offshore to deliver Offshore Support Vessel (OSV) building and maintenance, repair, and overhaul services (MRO) in Saudi Arabia."The long-term agreement signed with Zamil, one of the Middle East’s largest shipyards and owners, operating a fleet of over 60 diversified vessels in Saudi Arabia, aims to enhance IMI’s localization efforts in the Kingdom and boost its lifecycle support services…

AVEVA and  International Maritime Industries (IMI) extended their existing long-term collaboration with a new strategic partnership, a partnership designed to advance IMI’s engineering solutions to include production and manufacturing processes for the maritime sector in the Middle East and Africa (MEA).The new a joint venture involves Saudi Aramco, Lamprell Plc, Bahri and Hyundai Heavy Industries and spans a 10-year period, to optimize digitalization across the maritime lifecycle using AVEVA Unified Engineering and AVEVA Digital Ship and Shipyard Operations.Set to be fully operational by 2023, IMI is driving an accelerated and advanced digital program to ensure it is able to commence yard operations using the most advanced technology innovations.

Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KOSE), a manufacturer of oil tankers, cargo and passenger vessels, and warships, and Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) plans to set up a joint venture to build engines.According to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency the JV will break ground for the plant in the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services in the kingdom’s eastern coast in September 2020, and the project is set to be completed in May 2022.The Korean company is working to build a shipyard at the complex through a separate JV with Saudi Aramco, UAE-based Lamprell and the Saudi National Shipping Company (Bahri).

Saudi-based International Maritime Industries (IMI) has announced that it had signed a licence agreement with GustoMSC, a subsidiary of Houston rig and equipment builder National Oilwell Varco (NOV).The agreement entails a new GustoMSC drilling jack-up design which will utilize the modern manufacturing capabilities currently planned for at IMI, said a press note.As a result of the agreement IMI will be fully prepared for its first production operations anticipated in 2021.Fathi K Al Saleem, CEO of IMI, said: "This is a major step for IMI in securing the required knowledge and getting the best rig design which will be tailored to our state of the art construction capabilities…

Saudi Arabia’s International Maritime Industries (IMI) has signed a vessel purchase agreement (VPA) with the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) and a subsequent sub-contract agreement with South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) to build one very large crude carrier (VLCC).Hyundai Heavy will transfer architectural designs and related technological know-how for the building of very large crude carriers (VLCCs) to IMI. It will build one 319,000 DWT Class Crude Oil Carrier  with delivery expected in October 2021."This project award further strengthens the business relationship between IMI and its shareholders…

As part of its long-term downstream growth and diversification strategy, the Saudi Arabian national petroleum and natural gas giant Saudi Aramco signed an agreement with South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), and The Saudi Arabian Industrial Investments Company (Dussur).The agreement will establish a joint venture (JV) for a world class engine manufacturing and after sales facility in Saudi Arabia. Under the partnership, Saudi Aramco will own 55% of the JV, while HHI and Dussur will own 30% and 15% respectively.Meanwhile, an MoU between Saudi Aramco and HHI was signed that extends the existing collaboration to develop ship building…

Bahri, the world's largest owner and operator of very large crude carriers, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build its first very large crude carrier (VLCC) at the International Maritime Industries (IMI) yard in Saudi Arabia.The agreement signed with IMI and Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), one of the partners in IMI, sees Bahri committing the new mega-shipyard its first order before the end of July 2019.Following the placing of the order, IMI will engage HHI as a sub-contractor to build the vessel in South Korea. HHI, in turn, will help facilitate the transfer of knowledge enabling IMI to independently build VLCCs to international shipbuilding standards in Saudi Arabia.Abdullah Aldubaikhi…

Lamprell announced it has received a letter of intent (LOI) from International Maritime Industries Company (IMI), the Saudi maritime joint venture in which Lamprell is a partner, confirming the intent to award Lamprell the contract for the construction and delivery of two jackup drilling units.The rigs will be built collaboratively between the IMI and Lamprell for delivery to IMI's end client. Lamprell said it will undertake most of the fabrication work for both jackup rigs at its Hamriyah yard…

Lamprell announced its exclusive collaboration with GustoMSC to develop the Lamprell Jackup-43 (LJ43) jackup rig design, creating an advanced drilling rig with the highest level of safe, efficient and reliable drilling capabilities. The LJ43 drilling rig will combine Lamprell’s system integration capability, detailed engineering expertise and construction experience with the robust and advanced technology of GustoMSC designs. The rig utilises GustoMSC’s leg design with a custom designed hull and living quarters developed by Lamprell. It includes various high-end technology features such as a new innovative blowout preventer handling system and enhanced skidding capabilities via a X-Y cantilever, which will enable optimised and highly efficient drilling.

Construction work has begun on a joint venture to build a shipyard on Saudi Arabia's eastern coast, oil rig builder Lamprell Plc said in a statement on Friday. The joint venture, International Maritime Industries (IMI), started operations after reaching agreement for a loan from the state-backed Saudi Industrial Development Fund (SIDF), the statement said. The SIDF agreed in principle last year to provide 3.75 billion riyals ($1 billion) in financing for the project. IMI is a partnership between United Arab Emirates-based Lamprell, state oil giant Saudi Aramco, National Shipping Co of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) and South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.

Saudi Aramco and its partners have appointed Fathi K. Al-Saleem as chief executive of a joint venture to build a shipyard on the kingdom’s east coast, part of the Saudi Arabian government’s drive to diversify the economy beyond oil. The state-owned oil giant said in a statement on Friday that International Maritime Industries (IMI) had been officially launched in partnership with National Shipping Co of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), engineering firm Lamprell Plc, and South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.

Recently in its New York City office Maritime Reporter sat with Paul Holthus, CEO of the World Ocean Council, for a discussion of the trend toward corporate ocean responsibility and his organization’s contribution to that end. Can you tell us a bit about your meeting at the United Nations? The U.N. has an annual briefing for governments on ocean issues that has been going for 16 years,  but industry hasn’t usually  been well represented. As the World Ocean Council has become recognized…

The industry-led Steering Group running the inaugural London International Shipping Week (LISW) has established an official Board of Advisors which will act as guardians of the event to ensure it maintains objectivity and furthers London’s role as a major global maritime center. The purpose of the Board of Advisors is to lend credibility and high profile support to the LISW event, its aims, objectives and international engagement; while also taking a strategic view of the impact of LISW’s focus, its activities and attractiveness of London’s role in the global shipping industry. The Board of Advisors will have responsibility and accountability for reviewing and assessing LISW’s progress in achieving its strategic aims…

Bulk shipping has been under the international microscope of late, with spectacular structural failures resulting in sudden loss of lives and ships, vexing designers, builders and owners alike as to the solution to structural and operational problems. Last week industry experts discussed another matter near and dear to bulk shipper's hearts, the future profitability of the depressed bulk shipping business. The overriding message: bulk shipping profitability is inextricably linked to safety and environmental controls. Removing poor quality operators through strict enforcement of international regulations could reduce the capacity oversupply that has caused low freight rates in the tanker and bulk shipping sectors, they said at a London Conference organized by the City University.

Academy demands that Alumni Association immediately vacate premises; court orders parties to work out details by end of business of Friday, May 10th. The eviction of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy Alumni Association has been affirmed by a Long Island federal court. Jim Forde ‘88, Esq., AAF Board of Directors, said in a prepared statement today, “We regret to inform everyone that the court denied our motion for an injunction.” He also said that, after the ruling, the Academy demanded that the Alumni Association immediately vacate the grounds. Academy officials say the case is simple. They need the property to adapt it to use as classrooms. The court however, has ordered that the parties have until Friday, May 10th to work out some sort of reasonable time frame to move out.

Dr. April 7 (London) - ClassNK officially announced the appointment of Dr. M. Abdul Rahim to the role of Regional Manager in charge of the Society’s European and African operations at a party at the InterContinental London Park Lane Hotel last night. Nearly 100 guests from without the local maritime industry we’re in attendance at the party to welcome Dr. Rahim to his new position and see off former Regional Manager Tetsuya Kinoshita, including current IACS Chairman and ClassNK Chairman and President Noboru Ueda. Mr. Ueda opened the evening by saying that this new appointment represented one part of ClassNK’s ongoing efforts to provide even better service to the maritime industry in Europe and Africa, saying that “Dr.