ARAB Shipbuilding and Repair Yard (Asry), one of the world’s leading ship repairers, officially launched its 1,380-m repair quay wall as part of its 35th anniversary celebrations last month.

The launch marked the culmination of  Asry’s ambitious $188-million facility expansion project, which included the construction of a large new fabrication area covering an area of 200,000 sq m and a new administrative block.

The new vital repair quay will be backed by the offshore fabrication area, load-out quay and four brand new tugs, which will enable the Bahrain-based company to take head on the increased competition in the region by bolstering its ability to handle very large crude carriers (VLCCs), containerships, bulk carriers and LNG carriers, as well as build on an already growing offshore business.  

The new quay wall, located northeast of the yard in an area known as Asry Basin in Hidd, has an alongside water depth of 12 m and can simultaneously handle three 300,000 dwt vessels. It has been designed by the UK’s Royal Haskoning and built by local company Nass Contracting.

Royal Haskoning decided on the gravity-wall type construction for the new repair berth, utilising precast concrete blockwork, which means a virtual maintenance-free structure.

The gravity-wall type of construction requires competent underlying strata and in addition the seabed needs to be prepared to provide a level and stable platform for the placing of the blocks. Where the soil conditions are favourable, construction of quay walls utilising precast concrete blocks proves to be attractive in terms of durability and economy, the company says.

The key advantage of a gravity-wall type repair quay, according to Royal Haskoning, is that the units are constructed in dry, controlled conditions using reinforced concrete. A high degree of quality control can therefore be attained, the designer says.

The company has its eyes on fabricating topsides for floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels.
“It’s going to support the ship repair work and also support the offshore market we are diversifying to,” says Chris Potter, Asry CEO.

Also part of Asry’s strategic expansion project is the construction of four 40-tonne bollard pull Azimuthing Stern Drive (ASD) tugs for its own use. These will be replacing four older tugs. The vessels are being built by Asry itself on land adjacent to its large slipway complex and will be launched using the slipways.

Meanwhile, German crane manufacturer Ardelt will design build and install two new cranes for the repair quay wall. Both cranes will be installed and commissioned in March 2012.

The new level-luffing cranes, from Ardelt’s Kranich range of single-jib cranes, are lightweight, flexible units, offering extremely low maintenance and tailored for the demanding requirements of ship repair as well as offshore rig repairs and installation work.

Over the past year, Asry has embarked on major environmental initiatives which will see the introduction of a new sewage treatment plant, a fresh water desalination plant and an expanded grit treatment plant.

The new sewage treatment plant will operate on a bio-remediation method, with the methane gas from the plant being bottled for use by kitchens at Asry’s restaurants and food outlets and the water used to irrigate trees within the development.

The contract for the desalination plant was awarded to India’s Gemsil under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement.  This facility is scheduled to enter service next month (February). 

The yard’s existing grit treatment plant is to be upgraded to meet Asry’s requirements for treated copper slag, some of which will also be commercial marketed.

Among other developments, in a move to diversify, the yard has entered into a joint venture with UK’s Centrax to build power barges, which are self-contained, modular electricity generating systems designed to be located (and relocated if necessary) in ports, rivers or sheltered locations.  These barges can be used to provide power if regular power stations are crippled by natural disasters. 

The new company has started the process of building two of these barges.

Asry opened for business in 1977 as the first ship repair facility in the Arabian Gulf designed for super tankers. The shipyard is owned by the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Producing Countries (Oapec), which include Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Iraq and Libya.