Nico plans Kazakhstan yard

UAE-based Nico International has signed a joint venture agreement to build a ship repair yard in Kazakhstan and also has plans to set up a shipbuilding facility in the Central Asian nation.

Nico and Almaty-based oilfield service firm Caspian Services Inc and Kazmortransflot, the national marine company of Kazakhstan, will invest about $12 million to build the dockyard, Nico general manager Fazel Fazelbhoy said. “This is first such facility in Kazakhstan. It will enable vessels operating in the region to be repaired and maintained in the country,” he said.

Work on the dry-dock will begin next March and will be completed by the end of 2007. The facility, at the port of Bautino, will be a fully integrated dry docking yard with alongside repair capability, finger piers, a travel lift and mobile equipment to cater to the maritime fleet of the Caspian Sea.

It will be able to handle eight vessels up to 60 metres in length and 600 tonnes of weight simultaneously. Nico, which has a 50% stake in the venture, will develop and operate the facility.

Nico and Kazmortransflot also plan to set up a shipbuilding yard to build work boats, catamarans, crew boats and tankers of up to 12,000 DWT. A feasibility study has been completed for that venture that will require an investment of between $50 million and $60 million.