DNV sails away with 50 per cent market share of new shipbuilding contracts in Middle East & India

The vessels which are due for delivery over the next two years, brings DNV's total dead weight tonnage (DWT) on order to over 6.6 million and follows the successful delivery of 14 vessels with a combined DWT of 1.24 million last year.

Celebrating 30 years in the UAE and buoyed by the performance of their maritime business, DNV has also recorded impressive annual growth figures for 2006 of 13 per cent, with their AED 87 million maritime revenue, contributing towards the AED 163 million achieved for all DNV businesses combined. As a consequence DNV has already planned for new and extended offices in Tehran, Sohar (Oman), Abu Dhabi and Visakhapatnam in India, in addition to new and enlarged offices opened last year in Mumbai, Doha and Fujairah. DNV has also now opened its new flagship office in Dubai, giving DNV a total of 26 offices throughout the region in UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Iran, India and Sri Lanka.

Eivind Grostad, Senior Vice President & Regional Manager, DNV Middle East & India, commented,

"It is the maritime industry that is fuelling our regional growth which has been underpinned by constantly reviewing and implementing our own rigorous quality standards. Our business philosophy never compromises on quality and safety, positioning DNV as a reputable world class organisation."

DNV's overall business projections for 2010 are equally striking with the company's headcount increasing by over 60 per cent whilst total business revenues are expected to exceed AED 294 million. "Our business has grown by almost 35 per cent over the past two years and with our current order-book, we are confident that our forecast for 2010 is both realistic and achievable," added Grostad.

DNV is one of the world's leading classification societies, and helps the maritime industry manage risk in all phases of a ship's life, through ship classification, statutory certification, fuel testing and a range of technical, business risk, financial and competency related services. They also operate a worldwide network of survey stations and are authorised by more than 120 flag administrations to carry out surveys and, in most cases, issue statutory certificates on their behalf.