Dhahran, Saudi Arabia -- International Maritime Industries (IMI), the largest shipyard in the MENA region, and Columbia Shipmanagement (CSM) have expanded their partnership by signing a Memorandum of Agreement that will boost Saudi Arabia's capabilities in shipbuilding, ship repair and engineering excellence.

The Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) comes only six months after both companies agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding to explore opportunities in various areas within the maritime sector.

IMI will work closely with CSM, a world-leading provider of ship management and maritime services, to support its vision of becoming a fully integrated global maritime facility. CSMs maritime service portfolio, engineering expertise and worldwide network of clients and partners will help support IMIs ongoing development.

The partnership will be further enhanced by CSM acting as an official consultant for IMI in the areas of sensorisation technology for vessel performance optimisation, engineering solutions, vessel design, and newbuild planning and supervision. Moreover, CSM will actively promote IMIs modern set-up and technical capabilities to both existing clients of CSM as well as any market potentials the CSM Group gets aware of through its extensive global network Dr. Abdullah Al Ahmari, CEO of IMI, said: We are pleased to have signed this agreement with CSM, a company that is committed to supporting our efforts of building a world-class, technologically advanced shipyard that will drive the development of the maritime industry in Saudi Arabia. The partnership enables us to leverage CSMs unique capabilities and expertise, therefore enhancing our offering to both partners and customers. We look forward to collaborating further with CSM and achieving more important milestones in the near future.

Mark ONeil, CEO of CSM, said: We are delighted to be able to underline our commitment to the important Middle East and Saudi markets by further developing our excellent relationship with IMI through this new MOA. IMI is a Kingdom of Saudi Arabia shipyard providing the most advanced and sustainable newbuilding, maintenance, repair and overhaul services for commercial vessels including VLCCs, Chemical Tankers, Bulk Carriers, Offshore Support Vessels and Offshore Jackup rigs. Together with IMI, we have a mutual interest in strengthening our collaboration in order to meet the ambitious targets set out by IMI in the MENA region.

"CSM remains fully committed to the Middle East and Saudi Arabia, where our recently created ship management office offers the full Columbia Group service catalogue, he added.

Ends

https://www.flickr.com/photos/158746534@N02/51894581496/in/dateposted-public/ Back row standing: Ahmed Al Saadi, (IMI Chairman and Saudi Aramco Senior Vice President Technical Services) Front row sitting left to right: Mark ONeil (Columbia CEO) Dr. Abdullah Al Ahmari (IMI CEO)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/158746534@N02/51894720653/in/dateposted-public/ Back row standing left to right: George Vassiliades (Columbia Managing Director Gulf Region); Fahad Al Abdulkareem, (IMIs Board Member and Saudi Aramco VP Industrial Services); Ahmed Al Saadi, (IMI Chairman and Saudi Aramco Senior Vice President Technical Services); Abdulhameed Al Rushaid, (IMI Board Member and Saudi Aramco VP of Drilling and Workover); Julian Panter, (IMI VP Business Development); Abdulaziz Alqouhi (IMI Business Development Analyst).

Front row sitting left to right: Mark ONeil (Columbia CEO) Dr. Abdullah Al Ahmari (IMI CEO)

For more information please contact:

** Sean Moloney (mailto:smoloney@elabor8.co.uk) / ** Lisa Jacobs (mailto:ljacobs@elabor8.co.uk) , Elaborate Communications +44 (0)1296 682104

** https://www.facebook.com/columbiashipmanagement (https://www.facebook.com/columbiashipmanagement)

** https://www.linkedin.com/company/columbia-shipmanagement (https://www.linkedin.com/company/columbia-shipmanagement)

** https://www.instagram.com/columbiashipmanagement (https://www.instagram.com/columbiashipmanagement)

** https://twitter.com/columbiaSM (https://twitter.com/columbiaSM)

About International Maritime Industries:

Located at Ras Al-Khair on Saudi Arabias eastern seaboard, International Maritime Industries (IMI) will be the largest maritime facility in the MENA region, with global ambitions and reach. IMIs full-service yard will be capable of building four new offshore rigs and more than 43 vessels including VLCCs per year, as well as providing maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services for more than 260 maritime products. State-of-the-art technologies including artificial intelligence, biometrics and the Internet of Things are embedded into the yards infrastructure, offering customers a cutting-edge advantage in an era of digitalization. IMI is a Saudi Aramco sponsored joint venture (JV) with partners Hyundai Global Services, Bahri and Lamprell.

Find out more: www.imi-ksa.com

About Columbia Shipmanagement: For over 40 years, Columbia Shipmanagement (CSM) has provided world-class ship management and crew management services to the global shipping industry. A global presence with more than 20 management and representative offices, crew agencies and training centres worldwide connects us to our 15,000 employees on land and sea.

CSM offers a fully transparent and flexible turnkey services portfolio, cooperating closely with its global partners to drive bottom line value and leverage economies of scale. Our services are cost-efficient and fully optimised to the individual clients business scenario, resulting in the delivery of top-quality customisable and modular maritime solutions.

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