Ajman’s Emirates Techno Casting (ETC), manufacturer of zinc and aluminum alloy anodes for the marine and offshore industries, is to invest four million dollars in a production plant to produce new generation pipeline repair clamps.
“We plan to have the new Ajman factory operating by the end of this year. It will give us a 50 percent increase in production capacity and enable us to manufacture up to 300 offshore repair clamps a month,” said Roger Joyce, ETC general manager.
ETC announced its plan at the Chemtex & Corrosion Middle East 2002 trade show, taking place at the Dubai International Exhibition Center, where the company is exhibiting its proprietary clamp, which it claims can save oil companies up to $15 million in repairs along a 100 kilometer pipeline.
“We believe there is a big market in the Middle and Far East for this product, where much of the oil industry infrastructure is 15 to 20 years old. It not only substantially cuts the cost of repairs but also reduces the time taken to fix the problem. We have already sold 47 to a client in Iran,” Joyce said.
ETC has set up a joint venture with Sharjah’s Gulmar Offshore Group, undersea pipeline repair specialists, to offer oil companies a turnkey maintenance solution using the new clamps. As well as pipeline repairs, Gulmar also conducts external and internal inspections of pipelines, anode refits and pipeline stabilization.
“With ETC, we have developed a machine that can strip away the concrete protective cover from an offshore pipeline in a quarter of the time a diver takes, enabling us to fit the repair collar more quickly,” said Jean-Paul Leroy, technical manager at Gulmar Offshore Middle East. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
