Gulf Cobla builds on flexibility and expertise
01 July 2003
Expertise, flexibility and resources have helped Gulf Cobla grow from strength to strength in the dredging, reclamation and associated marine operations industry, says the UAE company.
Gulf Cobla has been involved in important operations and its list of ongoing and recent projects in dredging and surveying includes the Hamriyah Free Zone, Sharjah port, Conference Palace and the new dhow harbour in Abu Dhabi and the new military port in Fujairah.
It says it has an excellent track record in other regional countries as well and was recently involved with the Qafco expansion in Qatar and the development of Amwaj Island in Bahrain and fishery ports in Oman.
Gulf Cobla and its predecessor company Cobla have provided more than 45 years' service to the Gulf region. Gulf Cobla, established in 1977, is fully owned by two leading companies in the region - Dubai Transport Company and Binladin Group Dubai - and has historically been involved with a number of major interfaces between land and sea in the UAE and other regional countries.
"This association with two large company groups, both very active in the fields of building, haulage, road construction and civil engineering (among others), and both with strong regional ties, places considerable opportunities and resources at the disposal of Gulf Cobla," says its general manager Hendrik Jan de Kluiver.
"Having successfully completed a number of major dredging and reclamation works as well as a substantial number of smaller, and sometimes very special, projects, both as main contractor and subcontractor, Gulf Cobla enjoys substantial resources in its own right, and has a good standing in the industry," he comments.
Gulf Cobla has branch offices in the UAE to support operations in the other emirates and various local organisations elsewhere in the region. It also maintains a service/support branch in the Netherlands.
It owns a small fleet of cutter suction dredgers and various barges (cargo, water, booster, and split-hopper barges), workboats (190 to 500 hp) and floating cranes (six to 35 tonnes). For major projects, additional plant can be brought in, but for normal operations Gulf Cobla is self-supporting for marine, land-based and survey aspects of any dredging and reclamation work, says the company.
In 2001, Gulf Cobla upgraded its quality management system to ISO-9001:2000 for its complete scope of operations - dredging, surveying, reclamation and resource hire.
To improve efficiency and production and ensure that clients' specifications can be achieved, the company's dredgers have been equipped with hardware and software packages, specially designed for and by Gulf Cobla.
"Flexibility, local expertise and relationships are the cornerstones of Gulf Cobla," says de Kluiver, "Being able to mobilise regionally, small-to-medium size projects can be executed at lower prices and normally within acceptable time frames. Gulf Cobla has all the in-house facilities to execute topographic and hydrographic surveys at a highly professional level."
"Gulf Cobla is a small but professional player in the local and regional dredging industry and can provide clients with advice, expertise and quality service," he adds.
