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UAE Shipbuilders Launch a Consortium to Coordinate Projects

ADSB
A patrol vessel for the Kuwait coast guard, delivered by ADSB (ADSB)

Published May 17, 2026 10:38 PM by The Maritime Executive

 

In the past few years, the UAE’s shipbuilding sector has been able to build an international client base resulting in an increase of exports. To protect these market gains in a region facing geopolitical tensions, UAE shipbuilders have announced an industry wide partnership. Last week, AD Ports Group said that it had joined hands with other shipbuilders to form a consortium. The aim is to create a unified platform cross shipbuilding, vessel repair, fabrication and marine engineering.

The consortium includes AD Ports Group, Safeen Drydocks, Premier Marine Engineering Services, Dubai Shipbuilding & Engineering (DSBE), Al Seer Marine, Dutch Oriental, Jome Engineering and MBK Marine Industries, among others. The consortium will be led by Noatum Maritime, the shipping and maritime arm of the AD Ports Group. As the lead entity, Noatum Maritime will guide in defining a governance and commercial framework for the consortium.

Among other objectives, the consortium hopes to improve visibility across the shipbuilding project pipelines in UAE, accelerating vessel delivery. Further, the consortium aims to increase participation by locally based small and medium-sized shipyards.

“By strengthening alignment in the sector, we are enabling greater scale, enhancing competitiveness and positioning the UAE to play a more prominent role in global maritime trade and manufacturing,” said Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, CEO of AD Ports Group.

With rising defense budgets across the world, major shipbuilders in the UAE are winning record deals. Abu Dhabi Ship Building Co.(ADSB), the naval unit of the UAE-based defense conglomerate Edge Group, have seen its order book reach $3.6 billion, the highest in the yard’s 30-year history. Drydocks World, a subsidiary of DP World, is another UAE-based shipbuilder which has continued to elevate its global profile, winning large-scale contracts in the last one year. Last year, the yard won a contract from Amigo LNG for construction of what will be the world’s largest floating LNG facility off Mexico.

Last week during a state visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to UAE, Drydocks World signed a MoU with Cochin Shipyard for setting up a ship repair facility in Vadinar, India. Drydocks World also pledged support for training of the Indian shipbuilding workforce, through a tripartite agreement with Cochin Shipyard and Centre of Excellence in Maritime & Shipbuilding(CEMS).