International Maritime Industries (IMI), the largest shipyard in the Mena region, has expanded its partnership with Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) through a technical service agreement to further enhance its shipbuilding capabilities.

 

Under the agreement, HHI will provide technical assistance and consulting services in Very Large Crude Oil Carrier (VLCC) engineering to IMI, reflecting its commitment to supporting the development of IMI’s shipbuilding capabilities and engineering services since its launch in 2017. The agreement is a touchstone for the implementation of practical technical collaboration between both companies. 

 

The agreement was signed by Dr Abdullah Al Ahmari, Chief Executive Officer of IMI, and Ohmin Ahn, Executive Vice President at HHI, at the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services in Ras Al-Khair, Saudi Arabia. 

 

Ongoing commitment

Dr Abdullah Al Ahmari, CEO at IMI, said: “HHI is one of our four founding JV partners and a key enabler of our progress to date. This agreement reflects HHI’s ongoing commitment to supporting our efforts to build a world-class shipyard capable of locally manufacturing VLCCs and other vessels, that will help drive the development of Saudi Arabia’s maritime industry.”

 

Ohmin Ahn, Executive Vice President at HHI, said: “Working with IMI to leverage our technical expertise and facilitate knowledge transfer and capacity building, we are helping to contribute to the development of the Saudi maritime industry under Vision 2030.”

 

IMI and HHI initiated active dialogues for shipbuilding engineering collaboration in February 2018. Since then, an MoU between IMI, HHI, and Bahri for shipbuilding collaboration was signed in June 2019 and the term-sheet of the technical service agreement was signed in September 2019 in the run up to today's definitive agreement. Earlier this year, IMI expanded its partnership with HHI to enable the construction of naval vessels at its yard in Saudi Arabia. 

 

IMI, a joint venture between leading industry partners Saudi Aramco, Bahri, Lamprell, and HHI, is the largest shipyard in the Mena region at nearly 12 million square metres. It provides new build and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services for commercial vessels, including VLCCs, Bulk Carriers, Offshore Support Vessels, and Offshore Jackup rigs.--  TradeArabia News Service