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Grandweld cements position as number one offshore yard in Middle East

Grandweld has secured its position as the number one regional shipyard for the offshore segment, completing construction of a total of 17 vessels over the space of the last year. Latest projects include advanced crew boats, dive maintenance and support vessels, and work crane boats for a who’s who of Middle East energy firms and offshore contractors. Grandweld, which has been operating from its Dubai base since 1984, specialises in vessels custom built to conduct complex operations in the region’s challenging offshore environment. These range from three recently delivered work crane boats for Kuwait Oil Company – optimised for duties such as heavy lifting, oil-pollution control, SPM hose handling, and supply to remote areas – to two modified 42 metre long crew boats (FNSA-3 and FNSA-4) for Fujairah National Shipping Agency. The latter vessels are capable of speeds in excess of 30 knots and customised to execute operations such as security duties, fast transportation of offshore personal and cargo, and the rapid supply of fuel and freshwater. “The Middle East is a unique environment, with unique challenges and opportunities,” states Mr. Jamal Abki, General Manager Grandweld Shipyards. “We have a history of producing vessels that excel here. We use that understanding to continually enhance our offering, while building new relationships with international clients who can benefit from our expertise when it comes to meeting their own exacting requirements. “Our integrated proposition is efficient, flexible and modern, while our in-house engineers and project managers are world class. In addition, we invest heavily in research and development to enhance our own designs, as well as using respected external designers when desired. This ensures our vessels are leading the way in operational efficiency, reliability and performance – something the industry clearly appreciates.” Further noteworthy deliveries over the last months include three 34.3 metre aluminium crew boats to Jana Marine Services, a 50 metre Dive Maintenance & Support Vessel to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), and the 42 metre crew boats Stanford Volga and Stanford Niger, which are capable of carrying 83 people at speeds of 25 knots. “It’s an exciting time for the business, and our customers,” concludes Jamal Abki. “As the offshore trend points towards more optimised, complex vessels, our knowledge and experience allows us to respond with advanced new builds that deliver added performance and competitiveness for our clients. “We’re now looking forward to building on our leading market position over the space of the next 12 months, and beyond.” Back Quick links Services Careers Download Annual report Download

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Annual OSJ Conference

The Annual Offshore Support Journal conference is the premier annual event dedicated to meeting the needs of the global offshore industry and it takes place yearly in London.  The conference covers a market update along with many other presentations that discuss the industry, the situation, and foresea what 2016 brings for the offshore industry.  As it is every yrear, SM is happy to be part of the attendees in this conference. For more information, you can visit:http://www.osjconference.com Back Quick links Services Careers Download Annual report Download

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New 42m prototype achieving over 30 knot of speed is delivered to Fujairah National Shipping Agency

On the 7th of November 2015Grandweld has successfully delivered its prototype for the modified 42m. The vessel, named FNSA-3, can achieve a speed of 28.5 t knots with 40 tons of deadweight and over 30 knots at lightship condition. FNSA-3 offers luxury seating, VIP accommodation, a larger deck space and enhanced comfort for the crew. The vessel will be capable of executing several missions such as security duties, fast transportation of offshore personal and cargo, supply of fuel and freshwater.

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SMG Awarded ‘The Structured Finance Deal of the Year’

Stanford Marine Group’s (SMG) refinancing of its existing debt through a US$325mn overcame a number of key challenges to become one of the largest private sector syndications for a UAE-based corporate in 2015, potentially opening up the world of underwriting to private sector borrowers.

Deal At A Glance
• Award: Structured Finance Deal of the Year
• Deal Type: Structured Finance
• Location: UAE
• Borrower: Stanford Marine Group
• Mandated Lead Arranger, Underwriter, Investment and Security Agent: Noor Bank
• Mandated Lead Arrangers: Barwa, FGB, Qatar Islamic Bank
• Lead Arrangers: Ajman Bank, United Arab Bank
• Legal Advisers to Borrower: Holman Fenwick Willan
• Legal Adviser to Arrangers: Dentons
• Size: US$325mn
• Length: 5 years
• Use of Proceeds: To refinance existing facility and vendor loan repayments

Background
In April 2015 Noor Bank was mandated to lead a structured finance deal to help Stanford Marine Group refinance the Company’s existing facility with an upsize to repay the vendor loan. The final deal was completed by June 2015 – a tight deadline of less than two months – which was required in order to coincide with the repayment date of an existing facility. The deal was challenging for a number of reasons:

• management of mortgages in over 10 jurisdictions;
• repayment notices for the existing facility had to be served before syndication of the new deal;
• release and takeover of 31 shipping mortgages along with their registry within 24 hours; and,
• security release and takeover needed to occur on the same day as the disbursement.

Transaction Breakdown
Noor Bank, which ended up with a final hold of less than 15% on the facility, lead managed the structuring and underwrote the entire transaction, with the disbursement taking place at the end of June 2015. Barwa Bank, First Gulf Bank, and Qatar Islamic Bank were the mandated lead arrangers, and Ajman Bank, United Arab Bank also joined the deal as the Lead Arrangers. The deal was fully Shari’a compliant – successfully converting a dual-tranche conventional and Islamic facility into a single-tranche Shari’a compliant facility. “The deal was one of the first Islamic leveraged finance transactions in the region. Plus, requirement of hard underwriting made the deal even more challenging. This was in fact the largest single bank underwriting commitment given by Noor Bank since its inception. Besides various Islamic structuring and deal execution complexities, distribution of the transaction especially to the new set of banks was a task in itself. Given the various challenges, as a sole arranger we were able to successfully execute the transaction within a timeline of fewer than 60 days from the award of the mandate while ensuring we meet all of the Company’s objectives.” said Saadaat Yaqub Bajwa, Head of Wholesale Banking at Noor Bank, Dubai. The Winners’ Selection Committee said: “Stanford Marine’s Islamic syndicated structured finance facility set a new benchmark for structured finance in the region. Creative structuring enabled the borrower to access new pools of liquidity and successfully expand the number of its relationship banks.”

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GRANDWELD DELIVERS ONE DIVE MAINTENANCE & SUPPORT VESSEL “TAWAM1” TO Abu Dhabi National Oil Company [ADNOC]

Grandweld has announced the successful on time delivery of one new build 50 Meter Dive Maintenance & Support Vessel to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) on the 3rd of November 2015.The vessel was part of a shipbuilding contract signed on 19th December 2013 to design, build & deliver one Dive Maintenance & Support Vessel.

The vessel will be operated by IRSHAD and utilized to serve the Dive and Maintenance Operations in the Abu Dhabi offshore oil fields. The new vessel can accommodate up to 30 crew, fitted with an integrated diving systems, designed to achieve 60 Tons Bollard Pull and speed of 13 knots. In addition, in order to support maintenance operations, the vessel is equipped with anchor handling equipment and offshore lifting crane of 35 Ton @ 7.5m capacity for handling gravity Anchors, Mooring Buoys and SBM hoses. Furthermore, the 50M DMSV is also equipped with external firefighting capability to class 1. The delivery of this vessel marks yet another fruitful collaboration between Grandweld and ADNOC.

GRANDWELD DELIVERS ONE DIVE MAINTENANCE & SUPPORT VESSEL “TAWAM1” TO Abu Dhabi National Oil Company [ADNOC] Read More »

Stanford Marine at the Seatrade Offshore Marine & Workboats ME Exhibition 2015

Grandweld Shipyards has successfully participated in Seatrade Offshore Marine and Workboats Exhibition at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, UAE from the 5-7 October 2015.

The event brings together decision makers and buyers from a geographic marketplace that includes the mighty African Continent, the growing Caspian Sea area, the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East.

For the 2nd time Grandweld has been awarded the best marketing campaign certificate during the event. Seatrade Offshore Marine provides a great opportunity for delegates to discuss and share their ideas and knowledge to view the latest technologies and methods in Marine industry.

Middle East Seatrade Offshore Marine and Workboats Exhibition, 2015 was again a great success for Grandweld to participate and play an active role in this event.

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Strong Presence At Seatrade Offshore Marine 2015

Grandweld Shipyards has successfully participated in Seatrade Offshore Marine and Workboats Exhibition at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, UAE from the 5-7 October 2015.

The event brings together decision makers and buyers from a geographic marketplace that includes the mighty African Continent, the growing Caspian Sea area, the Indian Subcontinent and the Middle East.

For the 2nd time Grandweld has been awarded the best marketing campaign certificate during the event. Seatrade Offshore Marine provides a great opportunity for delegates to discuss and share their ideas and knowledge to view the latest technologies and methods in Marine industry.

Middle East Seatrade Offshore Marine and Workboats Exhibition, 2015 was again a great success for Grandweld to participate and play an active role in this event.

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Contract signing to build and deliver three 21.3 M Aluminum Crew Boats for INW

On the 9th September 2015, Grandweld Shipyards accomplished a significant milestone by signing a contract with International Naval Works to design, build and deliver three 21.3 M Aluminum Crew Boats. The 21.3 M vessels will be powered by 2 high speed marine diesel engines; each driving fixed pitch propellers through a reverse-reduction gearbox to produce a speed in excess of 21knots.. The vessels will be used for offshore transportation purposes and incorporates seating capacity for 18 offshore personnel with excellent seakeeping characteristics giving the personnel on board the vessel good comfort during transportation. Delivery of the three vessels will be in early 2016.

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The Addition of 2 Crew Boats to Stanford’s Fleet

Stanford Volga and Stanford Niger are the two additons to Stanford’s fleet. The 2 crew boats were built by our sister comany, Grandweld Shipyards, Stanford Volga was delivered in August 2015 and Stanford Niger in September 2015. The two 42M crew Boats have a speed of 25Knots and seating capacity of 83 persons, both vessels are committed with a medium to long term projects in Abu Dhabi.

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