Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) plans to hand over this year eight 16-metre vessels to the Critical National Infrastructure Authority (CNIA) and two 42-metre landing craft to the Bahrain Navy, ADSB's chairman said here yesterday.

"The landing craft deal worth $23 million (Dh84.59 million) with Bahrain was signed in 2007. We are going to deliver the two craft ahead of schedule," Humaid Al Shemmari told reporters at a news conference.

He said ADSB's order book is Dh3 billion in size and its backlog will take three to five years to clear.

Long-term horizon

"The nature of our contracts has a long-term horizon. This is the reason why we have been able to weather the global financial crisis better than a lot of other companies in the region," said Al Shemmari.

He said ADSB had received an order for six Corvette-type ships from the UAE Navy in 2005-06, the size of the order being 800 million euros.

"Two of these ships, of which one is made in France, will be delivered to the UAE Navy by the third quarter of 2012," said Al Shemmari, adding the other four deliveries to the UAE Navy have a 2014 timeframe.

He also said ADSB currently has several new ship contracts under negotiation. The company is eyeing orders from Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Libya and Algeria, added Al Shemmari.

He also said ADSB has multiple ship deals with the UAE Navy, Coast Guard and the CNIA.

"ADSB has outlined a strategy that will enable the company to experience considerable growth in five to ten years.

"The overarching vision is to transform ADSB into a world-class military ship designer and integrator with cutting-edge solutions that benefit customers by being the partner of choice for military vessel maintenance and repair, overhaul and through life support services," said Al Shemmari.

He said the strategy will be achieved through organic growth and well-targeted acquisitions and partnerships.

Abu Dhabi Ship Building has one of the world's most modern naval shipyards and is the only one capable of building, refitting, repairing and upgrading complex naval warships in the Arabian Gulf.

ADSB achieved a net profit of Dh114.39 million on revenue of more than Dh1.16 billion for 2009, representing the shipbuilder's strongest-ever annual performance since its establishment in 1996.