Abu Dhabi and Korea in shipbuilding talks
South Korea’s STX Offshore and Shipbuilding plans to open talks this year with Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) to help it break into the regional market for offshore support vessels.
The budding alliance between STX and ADSB, based in Mussafah, is part of a wave of new connections between UAE and South Korean companies after the $20.4 billion nuclear plant contract that Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation awarded to Korea Electric Power Company (KEPCO) in December.
STX, which already operates in Europe, South America and South East Asia, is seeking opportunities in the Middle East, said HJ Park, the managing director of STX Middle East, a subsidiary in Dubai.
STX already has strong ties with the Middle East’s largest shipping companies after signing contracts for product and chemical tankers with operators such as ETA, which is based in Dubai, Qatar Shipping and Oman Shipping.
But now, STX is eyeing the market for smaller work vessels that are a mainstay of the offshore oil and gas industry, and is offering to provide detailed engineering work for ADSB.
State oil companies in the Gulf own hundreds of work boats and offshore support vessels, and their fleets are expected to grow as they step up production. Abu Dhabi is embarking on an emirate-wide expansion of oil projects, with 50 percent expected to be sited offshore, while Saudi Arabia has just begun drilling in its ‘supergiant’ Manifa offshore field.
Entering the market for support vessels would be a new move for ADSB, which has to date focused primarily on building military vessels and also retrofitting and maintaining the fleets of local navies and marine authorities.
