ValuStrat has been providing consultancy services to the marine industry over the last several years, offering valuation and advisory services relating to ships and other marine vessels, marine buildings, cargo and infrastructure. Our marine consulting services also include techno commercial feasibilities and port and shipyard development advisory.
We focus on providing cost effective shipping research and techno commercial feasibility studies for Greenfield projects, market analysis and business diversification and expansion projects in various marine sectors like Ports & harbours, cruise terminal and marinas, marine logistics studies, market demand studies, shipbuilding yards and repair yards, financial analysis of project viability, business planning and company structuring.
With an age old history as a maritime hub, the GCC countries have long been sea faring countries. The marine industry has been an essential part of their economy, livelihood and culture for years. Strategically placed as the connectivity point of the East and the West for marine trade routes, the maritime industry has always been an important player in the economies of the GCC. The global financial meltdown and ensuing euro zone debt crisis has triggered a shift in trade towards the east with emerging giants like China and India alone expected to account for almost one-fifth of international trade flows by 2020. This changing trade focus has manifested in the form of more shipping and container traffic to these countries through the region, with regional firms reporting an outstanding result of 16.8 per cent growth for Jan 2012, compare to the same month in 2011.
The maritime industry expects greater growth with the opening up of new markets for exports within MENA and Sub – Saharan Africa. Total exports to these regions are forecasted to grow more rapidly than export to the US, Europe, Japan and the rest of the Americas.
GCC countries which have netted US$ 608 billion oil income in 2011 as against US$ 465 billion in 2010 are spending nearly US$15 billion on the expansion of their ports within the next five years to meet growing business. Many of the 35 major ports in the GCC are undergoing expansion in order to handle bigger trade volumes on the back of their ideal location between Asia and the Far East on one hand and the West, Central Europe, and Africa. They include the US$ 10 billion Khalifa port in Abu Dhabi, phase one of US$ 7 billion Doha port, US$ 215 million Al Ruwais Port, Kuwait’s US$ 410 million Bubiyan port project and Oman’s Duqm port, US$ 500 million expansion of Salalah port and US$ 110 million expansion of Fujairah oil terminal.
Besides large volumes of oil exports from GCC, which sit on the world’s largest hydrocarbon resources have ensured more tanker movement through ports in all the member countries. These huge development and increase in oil shipments will attract more traffic to regional ports and improve their international standing as a maritime hub.
