Deputy King Attends ASRY’s 35th Anniversary Ceremony

His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Deputy of His Majesty the King and Crown Prince, has lauded the Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard Co. (ASRY)’s strides, which, he said, is a living proof of the tremendous efforts exerted to upgrade the industrial and maritime sectors in the kingdom.”ASRY has become a source of national pride as its landmark achievements attained over the past 35 years reflect the strenuous efforts made by the well-trained and highly-qualified Bahraini cadres to raise the kingdom’s position at the global arena in such a vital sector,” he said, adding that ASRY is an “iconic monument” that embodies the success of regional and international cooperation.

  This came as His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa deputized HRH Prince Salman to attend ASRY’s celebrations of its 35th anniversary, held under HM’s patronage, at the company’s headquarters in Hidd. During the ceremony, attended by key Bahraini business leaders and prominent local and international guests representing the maritime sector, ASRY officially inaugurated its new 1.38 km Repair Quay Wall, which is part of its  ongoing 188 million US Dollar expansion programme. On the occasion, the Deputy King congratulated ASRY Board of Directors, shareholding companies and affiliates, praising their dedication and hard-work, which, he asserted, has gained the company local and global acclaim and made it a leading regional one.

Then, ASRY Chairman Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa welcomed the guests with a speech in which he praised the commitment, hard work and concerted efforts of all those involved in successfully implementing ASRY’s US$188m expansion programme.He especially paid tributes to the wise leadership of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa whose vision for a more competitive Bahrain has helped to inspire developments such as the new repair wall. He also expressed his sincere thanks and gratitude to His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Deputy of the King and Crown Prince and His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa for their continued support and directives in implementing various projects to rapidly develop the Kingdom’s economy and to enhance its maritime capabilities.”The inauguration of the new Repair Quay Wall represents a significant milestone for Bahrain’s maritime sector and the ship repair and maintenance industry that will enhance the Kingdom’s reputation as a major maritime centre further, regionally and internationally, and contribute significantly to realising the objectives of Bahrain Economic Vision, 2030,” he said.

Since commencing operations in October 1977, ASRY has continued to expand its repair facilities which now include – in addition to the Repair Quay Wall – one 500,000dwt capacity graving dock, two floating docks capable of accommodating vessels up to 80,000dwt and 120,000dwt respectively, two of the largest slipways in operation in the region and 15 repair berths.All three dry docks and the two slipways are backed-up by a comprehensive array of workshops, which cater to a variety of vessels, large and small, he added.  ASRY Chief Executive Officer Chris Potter also spoke on the occasion and asserted that “The Kingdom’s strategic location and maritime capabilities have enabled it to become a maritime hub and a key industry player over the years,” adding that ASRY enjoys vast experience in providing a wide range of  high-quality maritime associated services  to the highest international standards , in addition to state-of-the art facilities and highly qualified staff. This has turned ASRY into one of the world’s largest and most efficient ship repair and conversion yards that does not only support the local economy, but also stimulates the region’s fast growing maritime industry. We are confident today’s milestone and ASRY’s expansion will have profitable investment returns to the economy and the overall industry.” 

In his turn, Secretary General of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) Mr. Abbas Ali Al Naqi, congratulated Bahrain on the new Quay Wall as it is a pioneering step emphasizing the Kingdom’s leading position as a maritime hub in the regional and international markets.Al Naqi also highlighted what this means for Bahrain and the industry in general, stressing that “Over the years, this yard has developed into a world-class one-stop-shop serving ship owners regionally and internationally and noted that this success was also as a result of the continued support and encouragement of the Arab shareholding countries, in addition to the host country the Kingdom of Bahrain.” He also attributed the company’s current and future success to the strong support of the Leadership of Bahrain, the shareholding countries and the efforts of the management and workers of ASRY, wishing them continuous success and prosperity for the future.

Chairman of Seatrade the International maritime publishing, conference and exhibition company Mr. Chris Hayman also congratulated ASRY on their continuous efforts to upgrade its facilities and to keep pace with the demands of the marine and offshore sectors it has served for the past 35 years.Mr. Hayman noted the importance ASRY represented to the maritime business in Bahrain and the Gulf region and commended the company’s commitment to the green agenda for which it was recognised with a Seatrade Award for Corporate Social Responsibility in 2010.Mr. Hayman also offered his congratulations to the kingdom’s wise leadership, Shareholding countries ASRY Chairman and Board members, wishing the company a better future.Following the inauguration ceremony, His Royal Highness the Deputy of His Majesty the King, Crown Prince visited the exhibition of exclusive photographic images showing the growth of ASRY over its 35 years of operations.

ASRY Chairman briefed HRH Crown Prince and VIP guests on the selection of rare images taken of ASRY’s premises over the past 35 years. ASRY has grown since its establishment in 1974 from repairing only Super Tankers to now being able to work on every conceivable type of commercial, seagoing vessel.  Its specialist capabilities include chemical tankers, gas tankers, dredgers, container ships, bulk carriers and general cargo ships, tugs and offshore support vessels. More recently, the yard has diversified even further into the oil and gas markets for jack-up rig repairs as well as the naval repair sector with its latest development being the establishment of a Joint Venture Company (JVC) in the UK with Centrax, the British power generation packaging specialist to produce multi-application Power Barges – floating, electricity generating power stations.