AD Ports sets sights on Caspian region with Kazakh offshore and shipping tie-up
Abu Dhabi-based ports and logistics giant AD Ports Group is setting up a joint venture with Kazakhstan’s shipping firm, Kazmortransflot, to provide offshore and shipping services for energy companies in the Caspian Sea region, one of the oldest oil-producing areas in the world.
The joint venture, 51% owned by AD Ports and 49% owned by the offshore logistics and services subsidiary of the Kazakh national oil company KazMunayGas, will offer a range of services, including offshore support vessels, integrated offshore logistics and subsea solutions and, at a later stage, container feedering, roro and crude oil shipping in the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea.
AD Ports said the joint venture will create an important new entrant in the region, with a number of potential projects worth more than $780m already identified.
The two parties also signed a seven-year vessel pooling deal. The joint venture includes the provision of several tankers for international crude oil shipments. Furthermore, the deal will see Kazmortransflot’s fleet working alongside Safeen Group’s existing aframax tanker, intending to acquire other vessels in the short term and jointly carry eight to 10m tonnes of crude annually in the medium term.
Falah Mohammed Al Ahbabi, chairman of AD Ports Group, said: “This new joint venture with Kazmortransflot opens the door to enormous opportunities in the Caspian Sea, which plays a key role in global energy production, and is serviced by prominent players within the energy sector. By providing maritime services in this key market, AD Ports Group has reached a new level of internationalisation and development.”
