Sea Horizon sees Qatari expansion spurring growth

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With other offices in Dubai and Mumbai, SHM endeavours to serve the region, and sees Qatar as an emerging market with several opportunities.

In the sixth in a series of interviews ahead of Seatrade Maritime Logistics Middle East, Danial Kaabi, CEO, Sea Horizons Offshore Marine Services (SHM), Doha, Qatar, spoke to Seatrade Maritime News about developments in the sector.

Kaabi said recognition by Tawteen, the national supply chain localisation programme for the energy sector, led by QatarEnergy, had been an important step for SHM.

“In 2022 we opened our Qatar operations and were one of the only marine companies to be awarded a 100% in-country value score in Qatar issued by Tawteen. Being a local company in Qatar, this milestone was extremely important to us as we want to add as much value to the local marine and oil and gas sector as possible. Qatar is an emerging market with a lot of opportunities.”

Given high capacity utilisation in regional OSV markets, Kaabi said that newbuilds were now required, given the growth being experienced by the region’s three hydrocarbons majors, QatarEnergy, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and Saudi Aramco. Last year, Saudi Aramco said it would increase oil production capacity from 12 million barrels per day (mbpd) to 13mbpd by 2027, requiring a 50% increase in the size of its OSV fleet to 450 vessels in the next five years.

“Currently, we are in a demand surplus and with regional development of projects, along with growth in the oil and gas sector for all three of the oil majors, we know that the need for OSVs exists. All three companies are developing further expansions. With jack-up rig utilisation also intensifying in the Middle East, the demand for AHTSs is increasing and will continue to do so for at least the next five years, in my personal opinion,” he said.

Kaabi said obtaining finance remained an issue, but banks’ interest in green financing was on the rise.

“Currently, when it comes to the OSV market, the financing is still not where it needs to be,” he said. “Banks are still very cautious as they have burned their fingers in the previous demand hike in the late 2000s. Today, given the initiatives in green financing in the Middle East, banks are eager to support alternative-fueled OSVs. The only issue is that we do not know what the alternative fuel of the future will be to invest in for the next 20 years.”

06--Sea Horizon Offshore Marine Services (SHM) vessel, Aqua Horizon 1 (SHM)[38].jpg

Kaabi called on governments and regulators to take the lead on the creation of a unified policy on renewables as individual players in the OSV industry and other sectors were in need of a coordinated programme that would help them share the burden with each other.

“At SHM we try to do what we can but I think tackling decarbonisation must be an industry-wide initiative for all of us to support each other. We try to look at new ways that are efficient, both environmentally and economically, and continue to explore our decarbonisation model on a consistent basis to formulate the right solutions,” he said.

Kaabi concluded by saying that SHM’s main goal was to provide bespoke, family-like services to clients and partners from around the world. “Making your business our business is what we strive for and we want to continue to support our global clients regionally,” he said.

Danial Kaabi, CEO, Sea Horizon Offshore Marine Services (SHM), Doha, Qatar, is speaking at Seatrade Maritime Logistics Middle East, on May 16-18, 2023, in Dubai, UAE.

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