Drydocks World, a subsidiary of Dubai World is a leading and expanding international player in ship repair, conversion, new building and other marine related activities. Those in the Group at present include Drydocks World – Dubai, which is an amalgamation of Dubai Drydocks and Jadaf Dubai; Platinum Yachts FZCO and Platinum Yacht Management; Drydocks World – Singapore, formerly Pan United Marine and Drydocks World – Batam, a greenfield development in Indonesia.
New building has been one of the key areas of focus for the group and both the Dubai and Singapore business units have gained an exceptional reputation in the new building sector within a short span. They have a full order book for the next couple of years. Implementing state-of-the-art technology both in-house and on projects has been a priority.
The Dubai yard in particular has seen many innovations. The Foran V60 CAD/CAM system was implemented recently on the pioneering Aker Alpha H6e variant semi-submersible rig hull – the largest of its kind – constructed for Aker Kvaerner of Norway. The first of the two units was delivered in August 2007.
The system was implemented after a series of trials; engineering personnel were given hands-on training on different modules of the software. It was chosen after similar trials were undertaken with two other software packages, as it met most of the division’s needs and was found to be user friendly. It is being used for six new barges being built for a Turkish company and is also being considered for some of the other projects that will be taken up in the near future.