Nordmarin expands Middle East repair capacity

Dubai-based ship repair and conversion company, Nordmarin LLC, has boosted capacity with a new repair facility and head office at its yard in Dubai Maritime City. Despite the recent challenges relating to marine business in the region, the 35-year-old company has pushed ahead with the project as it gears up for what is expected to be a buoyant market in the months ahead and longer-term future.

The repair firm, with a workforce of about 400, focuses primarily on the regional offshore and merchant marine market in the Arabian Gulf. It has docked an average of 50-70 ships a year at the DMC facility over the last five years, as well as completing a number of afloat and alongside upgrades and conversions in other locations across the region.

Veteran repair man and managing director, Paul Friedberg, acknowledges that recent hostilities have introduced new challenges for the business but insists that marine and offshore repair demand remains buoyant. The company has a range of projects in the pipeline, he says, revealing deals involving vessel upgrades and conversions. As an example, he cites a major conversion and upgrade deal completed recently for a UAE-based cable-laying contractor.

Friedberg sees continued growth in the Arabian Gulf marine and energy markets over at least the next decade, This, he says, is partly a result of a significant increase in the volume of service-related tonnage across the region but also rising demand for regulation-driven maintenance and upgrades.
“Our new facility will enable the company to increase its market share in today’s expanding marine and offshore market,” Friedberg says. “It will also provide us with more capacity enabling us to enter adjacent market segments within the marine and energy sectors.”

Dubai Maritime City COO Ahmed Al Hamadi opened the new facility and congratulated the company on becoming one of the most successful repair and conversion contractors in the Dubai repair hub.