As many as 115 vessels from different countries around the world dropped anchor at the dry dock in Duqm, which serves as a key hub in the region visited by major shipping liners like Mars and Shell.

Haitham Nasser Al-Taie, Chief Operations Officer of Asyad Drydock, told Oman News Agency (ONA) that the dry dock in Duqm managed to build the first Oman-made logistics support ship owned by a local firm.

He added that the initiative received orders from different countries of the world to Duqm, which now poses among the best facilities of its kind boasting two dry docks, 14 cranes covering an area of 2.8kms, and modern workshops and ship repair equipment.

Al-Taie pointed out that the company is planning to set up a new workshop for building small vessels and that 100-bar high-pressure water pumps have already been procured for cleaning operations, among other equipment.

The dry dock in Duqm is the only port of call in the region that provides vessel oil waste reception services, said Al-Taie, noting that other dry docks require ship owners to discharge oil waste prior to entering the facilities for maintenance, which takes longer and costs more for ship owners.

“The dry dock in Duqm has thus posed as a strong competitor in the region. Over the past 10 years, the facility carried out 1,000 maintenance projects and earned a rate of 95 per cent customer satisfaction,” said Al-Taie.

Al-Taie affirmed that, since 2018, Asyad Drydock incurred no financial losses, and even maintained a ‘point of balance’ during 2019 and 2020, which indicates that the company is on the right track to sound growth.

During this year, the in-country value (ICV) achieved by Asyad Drydock touched RO12mn, while Omanisation at the main company stood at 80 per cent, said Al-Taie.

* This story was originally published by Oman News Agency.