Drydocks World-Dubai sees ship repair recovery after COVID-19 slowdown

Dubai — Drydocks World-Dubai's ship repairs have returned to almost full capacity after a COVID-19 related slowdown in May and June, the company's CEO told S&P Global Platts, adding while the five-year outlook was positive as shipowners adapt to changing environmental rules.

"Although COVID-19 affected our ship repair business volumes in the months of May and June, we have seen a surge in bookings and are almost operating near full capacity between now until the end of the year," Rado Antolovic said in a written response to questions from Platts.

While volume fell in the second quarter as more vessels were used for storage, business has recovered to similar levels at this time last year, Antolovic said.

"We managed to secure more orders in the third quarter, compensating for the loss of business in the second quarter", leaving cumulative orders this year similar to the same period last year, he said.

From January to August, Drydocks delivered about 30 vessels with a length of at least 300 meters, about double the number in the same period last year.

Antolovic, who has a doctorate in transport and economics, joined Drydocks World in 2018 after the company was acquired by DP World, one of the world's largest port operators.

It recently opened an office in Abu Dhabi to provide services for onshore and offshore oil and gas activities and is working on a South Yard development within the current space to provide area for several large fabrication and new building projects such as fabrication of modules and other offshore structures including turrets, topsides, offshore wind platforms and buoys.

Scrubber retrofits

The yard is getting more work for both scrubber retrofits and ballast water management systems installations due to relatively new environmental rules in international shipping, Antolovic said.

The International Maritime Organization capped sulfur content in marine fuels at 0.5% on Jan. 1, down from 3.5%, unless the vessel is fitted with a scrubber. The ballast water management convention was adopted in September 2017.

Ships take on ballast water at port or at sea to maintain stability and minimize stress on the hull. When they dispose the water at another port, it introduces bacteria and non-native aquatic organisms into the local marine environment.

"We have strategically targeted environmental refit projects that require compliance with IMO regulations," Antolovic said.

The yard has secured around 40 exhaust scrubber retrofits, of which 30 were completed by the end of August, he said. It also has completed 63 ballast water treatment system retrofits in the past 24 months out of 81 contracts won.

"DWD is currently in discussion with other new clients and expects further contracts for this type of work in the near future," he said.

The yard has completed more than 8,200 projects since it started in April 1983.

Heavy lifting

DWD's facility on Dubai's coastline covers 200 hectares. The shipyard has 3 ULCC-size docks, 1 floating dock, over 3,700 of berth space with water depths of up to 10m and an inhouse-built floating crane capable of lifting 2,000 mt for heavy lift operations.

It also has a dedicated cryogenic workshop for LNG vessel equipment work, conducts yacht repairs and offers heating, ventilation and air conditioning services for ships.

Drydocks World is converting a drill ship into a crane vessel named Bokalift 2 for Boskalis, a Dutch marine services provider. The project is expected to use 9,000 mt of steel, and a crane with 4,000 mt of lifting capacity will be installed on the vessel.

It has also been hired by Petrofac to construct two high voltage alternating current (HVAC) offshore transformer stations for TenneT, named Hollandse Kust Zuid Alpha & Beta, the first HVAC platforms to be made at the yard and the first to be constructed in the Middle East. The HVAC platform will be part of the Dutch renewable energy wind farm located in the HKZ grid connection in the Netherlands section of the North Sea.

It is building an intelligent High Bay Storage system that will allow containers to be stacked 11 stories high rather than the usual limit of five.

And it is working on a new 27 meter-long asymmetric tractor tug to be operated by P&O Reyser in the Port of Barcelona, one of the first tugs in the Mediterranean to comply with the IMO Tier III, MARPOL Annex VI when it enters service in 2020.

Among its more notable projects, DWD repaired both the Knock Nevis in 2004, at the time the world's largest supertanker, and the MV Barzan in 1999, one of the world's largest container ships. It handled the repairs of TI-class supertankers FSO Asia and FSO Africa in 2007 and their conversion in 2008-09, and completed the repair and maintenance of some of the world's largest LNG carriers including Q-Max Mozah, Al Mayeda, Al Mafyar and Umm Slal in 2010. It also has serviced the world's largest superyachts Azzam, Eclipse and MY Dubai.