International Maritime Industries (IMI), the largest shipyard in the Mena region, has signed a long-term agreement with Bahri Logistics, one of Bahri’s business units, to enhance its supply chain through state-of-the-art warehousing and logistics services.

 

IMI - a joint venture between leading industry partners Saudi Aramco, Bahri, Lamprell, and HHI, is the largest shipyard in the Mena region spread over nearly 12 million sq m area. 

 

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.

 

The agreement supports IMI’s commitment to developing the Saudi maritime industry and will further enable IMI to offer its customers a highly responsive localized supply chain that reduces risk, lowers costs, and speeds up response times, remarked Dr Abdullah Al Ahmari, the Chief Executive Officer of IMI, after signing the deal with Engineer Soror Basalom, the President of Bahri Logistics, at the ongoing Saudi Maritime Congress 2022 in Dammam. 

 

"It reflects Bahri’s ongoing commitment to supporting our efforts to build a world-class shipyard with an advanced and fully integrated supply chain, that will help drive the development of Saudi Arabia’s maritime industry," he stated. 

 

Under the agreement, IMI will leverage Bahri Logistics’ expertise to operate and manage three warehouses and a total of 33 stores across its yard in Ras Al Khair, Saudi Arabia, said the top official. 

 

In addition, Bahri Logistics will handle the transportation of materials required for new build and maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) operations from local and international suppliers to IMI’s premises, including inland transportation and customs clearance. 

 

The three warehouses will cover a combined area of around 30,000 sq m – including storage and workshop areas – and will be located in Zones C and D of IMI’s yard, which focuses on new-build activities for commercial vessels and offshore jackup rigs and lift boats, stated Al Ahmari. 

 

According to him, IMI was built on a foundation of key partnerships with leading industry companies, and working with a top logistics provider such as Bahri Logistics further enhances our strong product and service offerings.

 

The deal will see 33 stores distributed across various yard zones. Bahri Logistics will design, install, and manage the day-to-day operations of all the storage systems, he added.

 

On the IMI partnership, Basalom said through its comprehensive portfolio of services and strong track record of industrial logistics projects, Bahri is confident in its ability to fulfill IMI’s storage and logistics needs. 

 

"Working with IMI to leverage our technical expertise and facilitate knowledge transfer and capacity building, we are proud to be contributing to the development of the Saudi maritime industry under Vision 2030," he added.-TradeArabia News Service