Damen gets order for three newbuilds in Middle East

Jawar Al Khaleej Shipping (JAK), a provider of specialist services to the offshore oil and gas sector in the Persian Gulf, has signed a contract with Damen Shipyards Group, for the supply of three vessels at this year’s Seatrade Maritime Middle East Exhibition taking place in Dubai.

Damen said on Tuesday that the deal entails one Fast Crew Supplier (FCS) 5009 and two Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) Tugs 3213.

The 53-metre FCS 5009 will be built at Damen Shipyards Antalya in Turkey and will be named the Jawar Abu Dhabi. The vessel is due for delivery in early 2017.

The FCS 5009 is the flagship of Damen’s Fast Crew Supplier range. It has 240 square meters of deck space available for equipment and other cargo which it can transport at a top speed of 25 knots along with 80 passengers.

The twin ASD Tugs 3213 will be named the Jawar Faw and Jawar Um Qasr and will be constructed at Damen Shipyards Song Cam in Vietnam.

The ASD 3213 is 32 meters in length, has 8000 HP and 85 tonnes of bollard pull. It is used to handle VLCC tankers at offshore terminals. Both vessels are under construction and ready to be delivered after commissioning.

JAK operates the fleet of tugs and support vessels that support the Al Basra (ABOT) and Khor Al Amaya (KAAOT) oil terminals that, between them, handle more than 90% of Iraq’s crude oil exports. Both facilities are planning to expand their capabilities in the years ahead as Iraq increases its oil output.

Baydaq Al Jazaeri, Chairman of Jawar Al Khaleej, said: “The acquisition of these new vessels reaffirms Jawar Al Khaleej Shipping’s fullest commitment, confidence, and determination to continue supporting the offshore oil and gas industry in the forthcoming years.”

JAK’s current fleet is comprised of anchor handling tugs, support vessels, jack-up barges, an emergency oil spill response vessel, crew boats, a heavy lift crane vessel, and flat top barges.

These include two Damen tugs, the 8,000 BHP ASD 3213 Jawar Basra delivered in 2015, and the Stan Tug 2909 named the Jawar Dubai purchased in 2009.