National Marine Dredging Co. Pursues opportunities Abroad

Thursday, Sep 02, 2010

National Marine Dredging Co., the United Arab Emirates-based company that deepens waterways, is pursuing opportunities abroad to fuel growth amid increasing competition at home, its chief financial officer said.

“We are focusing outside Abu Dhabi in Qatar” where the company is in “advanced stages of discussions,” for new contracts, Gautam Pradhan said in an interview in Abu Dhabi yesterday.

Competitors including Netherlands-based Royal Boskalis Westminster NV and Van Oord Groep NV, the world’s two largest dredging companies, are increasingly seeking business in Abu Dhabi as the financial crisis slows projects in Dubai, Pradhan said. Van Oord helped build the palm-shaped island in Dubai, a project by developer Nakheel PJSC.

Abu Dhabi-based National Marine, which also works in land reclamation, has a 90 percent market share in the U.A.E’s biggest emirate and an as much as 60 percent share in the U.A.E., he said.

“Most of our competition is shifting here now,” Pradhan said. “A lot of our competitors are now subcontractors.”

The company, whose biggest shareholder is the Abu Dhabi government, is involved in projects include dredging at the Fujairah Port and the creation of manmade islands in Zakum. Its order book is expected to stand at 3.5 billion dirhams ($953 million) by year end, Pradhan said. In July, National Marine was awarded a $100 million contract with Abu Dhabi Gas Industries Ltd., or GASCO, to dredge the Ruwais channel in Abu Dhabi’s western region, he said.

The company plans to offer a convertible bond worth about $85 million in March 2011, according to Pradhan. The board in February approved a plan to offer 391.5 million dirhams of convertible bonds in four phases.

Source: World Maritim News