Middle East offshore supply vessels an important growth market for DNV.
“The Workboat exhibition is an important event in our calendar,” said Peter Hamer, DNV Maritime’s area manager in the Middle East. “It’s our opportunity to showcase our services in an important growth market for us.”
According to Mr Hamer, the DNV stand attracted a significant amount of interest. “A lot of people visited our stand and the talks led to some good business leads. Workboats include tugs, ferries, supply vessels; police, fire, patrol, pilot, rescue and oil spill boats; along with, dredgers, barges and floating cranes. More than 2,000 such vessels are estimated to be docked or repaired in the Middle East so there’s huge potential in this market.”
Omar Abu Omar, DNV’s district manager, said: “The increased development in offshore activities in Abu Dhabi in particular represent great opportunities for DNV… I am upbeat about the future of offshore vessels in this part of the world due, in the main, to mega offshore projects and the stabilising of crude oil prices.”
A higher profile presence is needed nowadays, commented Mark Bell, manager of DNV’s Maritime Service Centre in the Middle East, adding there is a need for DNV to align itself with the changing environment in the maritime and offshore industry.
“The industry is operating in challenging times of boom and bust cycles and we need to adapt to the customer’s needs – also in the tough times,” pointed out Mr Bell. “At the same time, we are targeting a number of growth markets and this region is very strong in the offshore supply support sector and that is why this event comes into the picture for us.”