MANAMA: The formation of a Gulf maritime association to build a stronger, more capable marine harbor and service industry was announced yesterday during the opening ceremonies of the 2009 Work Boat Gulf Conference and Exhibition.
Work boats include harbor tugs and dive boats as well as a variety of vessels that assist in offshore oil and gas production and exploration, such as jacking barges and anchor-handling tugs and supply ships.
“As a stand-alone workboat industry, we would benefit from an association to pool our strengths and learn from each other’s knowledge and experiences — in other words, an international work boat association that focuses on our needs,” said Amer A. Al-Sulaim, executive director of Saudi Aramco’s Industrial Services, which oversees the company’s marine operations. “To achieve this vision, we have established The Arabian Gulf Workboat Association (AGWA) as a non-profit organization. AGWA will serve such needs by interacting with the international maritime organizations to support the local maritime community and increase its capability of providing reliable marine services — through developing local maritime human resources and other essential operational components, such as marine maintenance, engineering and training.”
The two-day conference, held at the Bahrain International Exhibition Center in Manama, features product seminars highlighting marine services equipment, from winches and industrial boat fenders to boatyards and fleet management software as well as an exhibit featuring the booths of 50 companies.
Opened by Bahrain’s minister of industry and commerce, Hassan A. Fakhro, the conference emphasized the importance of Gulf ports and offshore operations. In his welcoming remarks, Al-Sulaim noted that Saudi Aramco marine operations were only minimally affected by the global economic downturn because of the ongoing supply and support of offshore facilities. He said the slowdown was a perfect opportunity to increase both efficiencies and capabilities and that the creation of AGWA was a first step in that direction.
“This is a strategic initiative,” Al-Sulaim said. “From our long years of experience in marine operations, we know that these components complement one another, and a deficiency anywhere along that chain will negatively impact the others. We also realize the significance of knowledgeable and experienced maritime personnel as the hub of growth and development in these areas, and we seriously intend to focus on the development of national seafarers along with enhancing other marine resources and technology.”