International Maritime Industries (IMI) has announced that they had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with long-term partners Hyundai Heavy Industries, Co., Ltd. (HHI) and Bahri, a global leader in logistics and transportation, to pursue a series of long-term business activities, whether jointly or severally on the basis of a multilateral relationship. The activities will include (but are not limited to) building one or more Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCC) in South Korea.
Bahri will issue IMI its first VLCC order prior to the end of July 2019, at which point IMI will engage HHI as a sub-contractor to build the VLCC. “This agreement provides many benefits for IMI including transfer of knowledge from HHI to IMI, a mechanism to grant use of Intellectual Property (IP) to IMI, development plans for IMI employees to acquire new skills in shipbuilding and planning, as well as technical assistance,” said Fathi K. Al-Saleem, IMI Chief Executive Officer. “This agreement contributes to the long-term growth of this new industry in Saudi Arabia and will enable IMI to independently build VLCCs in Saudi Arabia to the highest international shipbuilding standards.” HHI will also assist IMI to localize supply chain in Kingdom.
Commenting on the MoU, Abdullah Aldubaikhi, CEO of Bahri, said: “Committed to playing a pivotal role in the transformation of the Kingdom into an important regional and global logistics and transportation hub, Bahri has been exploring new horizons for industry cooperation to take its vision forward. This agreement, which further strengthens our strong strategic relationship with IMI and HHI, signifies a major development in this direction, and we are confident it will provide a boost to our ongoing efforts aimed at enhancing our offerings and bolstering our capabilities. We look forward to a fruitful collaboration that will immensely benefit our customers and shareholders.”
Additionally, IMI has plans to sign a strategic cooperation agreement with Hyundai Global Services (HGS), in which HGS considers IMI as a preferable repair shipyard for the scope of the MRO business of retrofit, and IMI also considers HGS as a priority supplier for the scope of the MRO business of retrofit. Both parties will continue to work on co-developing technology to improve efficiency, reduce life cycle costs, and prolong the life expectancy of their assets.
“This agreement further strengthens the business relationship between IMI and its shareholders, as well as contributing to the development of a localized Maritime Industry supply chain infrastructure, technical expertise for Saudi Nationals, and a track record in shipbuilding,” said Al-Saleem.
International Maritime Industries, located in The King Salman Complex for International Maritime Industries & Services at Ras Al-Khair, Saudi Arabia, will be the largest, full service maritime facility in MENA. When building is complete, the annual capacity of the facility will be four (4) new build offshore rigs and over 43 new build vessels including VLCCs, in addition to servicing more than 260 maritime products. Major production operations are expected to commence toward the end of 2020 with the facility reaching its full production capacity by 2022. International Maritime Industries is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco, Lamprell, Bahri and Hyundai Heavy Industries.
