Hidd: Bahrain shipyard Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard (ASRY) is both diversifying and streamlining under new chief executive, Nils Kristian Berge.
Berge took over last October from veteran ASRY boss Chris Potter. By the end of last year ASRY had completed its 4,000th ship repair and its 50th rig repair.
“I’ve taken the reins of ASRY at a very interesting point in its evolution,” Berge tells Maritime CEO. In the past five years, ASRY has gone through a major shift from being a ship-centric yard to being a multi-service yard, Berge explains, with a series of diversifications to complement its core ship repair services – most importantly ASRY Offshore Services. There has been a major facilities expansion, including a new quay wall, and two other diversifications – ASRY Energy and ASRY Consultancy.
“My challenge going forward,” says Berge, “is going to be to unify all these new developments into a single cohesive proposition that simultaneously maximizes all their potential, yet also uses our resources in the most efficient way.”
This year will see the introduction of a series of new developments aimed to maintain ASRY’s position as a leading yard in the Gulf. The company is going to undergo a corporate restructuring that will reorganise divisions, departments and responsibilities so as to streamline efficiency and improve cost-effectiveness. This re-structuring will be rolled out in the first quarter. Secondly, the company will be adopting a new system of accountability which allows it to set targets and measure performance, through Key Performance Indicators.
In terms of growing the business, ASRY has recently opened a representative office in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia is a fundamental part of our business, particularly in offshore services, as not only is their direct business from the kingdom, but a large proportion of regional fleets are guided and must adhere to Saudi standards,” Berge explains. Up until now ASRY’s Saudi-sourced work has been mostly modest rig repairs. “With the creation of this local presence we can quickly and efficiently respond to immediate repair requirements in-country, with major rig repairs still being carried out in our Bahrain facility,” Berge adds.
A market ASRY is interested in approaching more aggressively in Saudi Arabia is the land-based rig repair market. [20/01/14]
