Fincantieri inks Iranian shipyard cooperation agreement

JANUARY 27, 2016 — Fincantieri reports that it has signed a number of framework agreements with Iranian companies. It says these “preliminary understandings are prior to the accomplishment of several contracts worth some hundred million euros and to the potential development of joint activities.”

The understandings include a cooperation and development agreement with Azim Gostaresh Hormoz Shipbuilding Industry Co (AGH), which Fincantieri says is “a modern and new shipyard, strategically located in the Persian Gulf within the special economic zone.”

AGH is controlled by the larger Iran Shipbuilding and Offshore Industries Complex Company (ISOICO), which is under the administration of the Industrial Development & Renovation Organization of Iran (IDRO), one of Iran’s largest organizations involved in the country’s development and industrialization process.

According to Fincantieri, “the agreement provides for cooperation between the two companies for the construction of new merchant vessels and offshore units both in the field of ship repairs and conversions and in refitting activities of already operating units. Notably, the cooperation will affect the development of detailed engineering, optimization of the construction processes, technical consultancy and assistance in all production phases and personnel training both on site and in Italy. To this end, the two companies will shortly create specific working groups engaged in activities to establish a synergic cooperation and to develop a solid business partnership in the area.”

Fincantieri, through its subsidiary Isotta Fraschini Motori, has signed two further agreements, one concerning the marine propulsion sector and the other rail transportation. Under the first of these agreements, Isotta Fraschini Motori and trading house Arka Tejarat Qeshm (ATQ) will set-up ] a joint proposal for the supply to the Iranian Governmental of 600 marine engines for smaller vessels.

Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, stated: “We have once more demonstrated the ability to attract the industrial interest of one of the countries with the highest development potential in the world. The agreement which we have achieved thanks to the company’s presence in all the areas of the shipbuilding and advanced manufacturing industry, will surely represent an added value of outmost importance to increase the worldwide dimension and the export share of our group”.