Topaz Marine Engineering, a UAE shipbuilder with a focus on supporting the offshore oil and gas industry, is branching out to supply the Government of Sharjah with a catamaran passenger ferry.
The ferry is set for delivery next year, when it will carry 40 passengers at a time to and from Abu Musa, one of three islands occupied by Iran, located some 60km from the UAE mainland.
Topaz said it was tapping a growing regional market by building on its expertise with catamarans after delivering two such vessels this year.
"Ferry boats are becoming increasingly common across the [Arabian] Gulf countries and Topaz is responding to this demand," said Thomas Bower, the managing director at Topaz.
The Sharjah contract caps what the company called "an excellent start to the year".
Apart from two catamaran ferries delivered to a United Kingdom client, it has delivered four boats, including two wind-farm support vessels, in the first six months of this year.
Topaz, the subsidiary of Oman's Renaissance Services, incurred a loss of US$11 million (Dh40.4m) last year. It also became embroiled in a fraud scandal that cost the company $2.9m, and had to abandon a planned initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange.
Debts of $330m were addressed last month with the refinancing of $203m in loans. The move freed up $60m of equity for investment, the company said at the time.
While Topaz has endured challenging times, it is well entrenched in Gulf markets and in the Caspian. It also has a presence in Saudi Arabia, where offshore oil and gas production is growing. Although a move into Brazil has been less successful, break-even there is within reach, said Topaz.
twitter: Follow and share our breaking business news. Follow us
iPad users can follow our twitterfeed via Flipboard - just search for Ind_Insights on the app.
