A joint venture between Albwardy Investment of Dubai and the Netherlands-headquartered Damen Shipyards Group, Albwardy Damen has been operating in the UAE for over 40 years and is one of the leading shipyards in the Middle East. With UAE operations in Dubai, Fujairah and Sharjah as well as Sohar and Salalah in Oman Albwardy Damen repairs over 400 vessels a year of all sizes from tugs to VLCCs and in 2018 it built eight new vessels for delivery around the world.

Lars Seistrup, managing director Albwardy Damen, declared: “It is a huge honour to win this prestigious award for the second year running. On behalf of our 1,200 staff I would like to thank our customers for their trust in our services. The marine industry is changing rapidly, margins are tight and owners are demanding high quality, safe and efficient vessels as standard. As a service provider to the marine industry we constantly strive to maintain a cost-efficient business and understand the needs of our customers. This award affirms the success of our efforts in both our newbuild and repair departments.”

ISO 14001 certified, the last five years has seen the company make substantial investment in staff training and nurturing in-house talent and skills. Lars and his management team have developed extensive capabilities in-house, covering the full scope of shipbuilding and repair services. 90% of the work comes from the UAE and Oman locations using Albwardy Damen’s own people and its state-of-the-art equipment.

This year has seen Albwardy Damen invest heavily in 3D scanning and engineering software to carry out ballast water treatment (BWT) retrofits and large pipe renewal schemes on tankers. The investment is paying off with two BWT retrofits already completed where 3D scanning, engineering, CNC-controlled piping production and installation were delivered as turnkey projects.