ASRY has just secured its 100th rig repair contract, eight years after diversifying from its ship repair DNA.
The project on the high spec Bob Palmer, one of the largest jack-up rigs in the world which is owned and operated by offshore contract drilling services giant Rowan Companies, a long-term client, has continued a busy year for ASRY which had 16 rigs in the yard simultaneously at one point.
However, while ASRY had repaired 20 rigs by August 31, profits remain tight as owner-operators, squeezed by the depressed oil market, limit repair scopes to the bare essentials to meet survey requirements.
“This milestone is especially encouraging considering the enormous pressure the rig market is still under,” ASRY Offshore Services gm Rob Bryant said.
“Margins are very tight so we are working closely with our clients to meet their repair needs in the most affordable way possible, without compromising the quality and safety standards that keep them coming back.”
While no financial details were immediately available, Bryant can see hope on the horizon.
“Following the uncertainty that dominated the rig market in 2015 due to major global oil price fluctuations, Mideast rig owners and operators have a clearer understanding in 2016 of the future course for the market. Repair scopes are still only including the essentials to meet survey requirements, but a more predictable future is relaxing the anxiety that choked the market last year.”
ASRY entered the rig repair game in 2008 in what chairman, Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Al Khalifa, has heralded as one of the Bahrain yard’s shrewdest business moves sinceits inception in 1977.
That sentiment is echoed by acting ceo Magdy Mustafa as ASRY welcome the increased rig business at a time when ship repair work has slowed significantly. The yard has also forged ahead with onshore rig work, a second land rig contract due in the last quarter of the year enhancing the yard’s diversified workforce.
“Even during market downturns, having multiple and diverse revenue streams provides more opportunities, as is being visibly demonstrated by our recent rig repair successes,” Mustafa said.
ASRY’s facilities include a 500,000 dwt drydock, two floating docks of 252mtr and 227mtr in length, 15 repair berths with a total length of approximately 4,000m, twin 255mtr slipways, as well as a full range of workshops and service centres.
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