Abu Dhabi Ports signs contract with Gulf Marine Services

The port operator signed a contract with Gulf Marine Services, which will move its construction and maintenance yard in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi to a larger site closer to the channel at Zayed Port in Abu Dhabi City.

   Abu Dhabi Ports signed a contract with Gulf Marine Services (GMS), the largest operator of self-propelled self-elevating support vessels (SESVs) in the world, for the creation of a facility at Zayed Port in Abu Dhabi City, where GMS will construct and maintain its offshore support vessels and serve the region’s oil and gas industry, the port operator said.
   Zayed Port will lease the new facility to GMS for three years. GMS’ construction and maintenance yard is currently located in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi and the move to the new site will be phased between now and March 2016.
   The new site, which is double the size and increases the yard to 42,500 square feet, will provide GMS and its clients substantial benefits, Abu Dhabi Ports said. Having a larger facility will allow GMS to bring subcontracted fabrication work in-house, which will result in cost savings for both the company and its clients.
   In addition, the new site is operationally more efficient because it is closer to the channel. It features a one-day passage to the sea compared to up to six days from Mussafah due to tidal conditions.
   Vessel construction, repairs and mobilizations will all be handled at the new site.
   “GMS’ head office will remain in Mussafah and the yard there will continue to be used for supplementary purposes,” Abu Dhabi Ports said.
   “We have been very busy at our current yard, having increased our SESV fleet size from nine to 13 vessels since 2014; by the end of 2016, we will have added another two vessels,” GMS CEO Duncan Anderson said in a statement.
   The space at Zayed Port became available because container and roll-on/roll-off traffic previously handed at Zayed Port was relocated to the Khalifa Port. Zayed Port continues to handle general cargo and bulk cargo and remains a regional hub for the cruise industry.