Columbia Shipmanagement Expands in Saudi And Middle East Markets

Columbia Shipmanagement (CSM) has heralded the start of its expansion into the strategic Middle Eastern ship management market by opening an office in Riyadh in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Columbia Shipmanagement Saudi Ltd has been set up primarily to service the needs of its client Saudi Aramco in the areas of energy, oil and gas, training and procurement, but it will also provide a base for the company to work with other partners and clients in the dynamic Kingdom.

The new office will offer full technical and crew management services to the shipping, offshore and energy sectors, including the important cruise and super yacht markets, as well as essential vessel digitalisation and optimization services, in addition to training, catering and newbuilding consultancy.

It will also serve as a springboard for CSM’s expansion into the Emirates and position it to take advantage of additional cooperation agreements with many of the region’s larger players in the important energy, shipping, procurement, and logistics segments.

Mark O’Neil, CEO of CSM, said the move was an exciting one considering the wealth of opportunity for partnership in the region. “The opening of our office in Riyadh will give us the opportunity to cooperate with, and (most importantly) partner, those quality organizations in the region which mirror our own core values and service levels.

“Saudi is a rapidly developing dynamic market with many new cities, industries and sectors being developed. And we will use our experience in the Kingdom to set up further offices in the Emirates as new opportunities develop.

“Countries in the region are gradually shifting away from being worldwide tonnage users to building and operating their own fleets, something which offers CSM the scope for further investment and partnership,” Mr O’Neil said.