MAN Ferrostaal invests in oil platform construction

01.02.2007 -

The construction work for South Africa's first shipyard for the construction of oil and gas production platforms began yesterday in Saldanha Bay near Cape Town, with a celebratory ceremony. In the coming months MAN Ferrostaal will construct a modern facility to international standards in the harbour on the country's West coast. On the 220,000 square metre site components for offshore platforms will be constructed in the future, notably bridges, cantilevers, decks, hulls and undersea infrastructure, but also complete offshore modules (platforms) weighing up to 5000 tons.

"MAN Ferrostaal are proud to be an investor in this project", said Dr. Klaus Lesker, member of the board of MAN Ferrostaal AG, in Saldanha Bay at the start of construction. The project will give the South African economy the opportunity to get involved in the African Continent's expanding oil and gas industry. "We believe that South Africa can play an important role in the industrial development of the whole of Africa," said Lesker.

"Many international companies in South Africa are taking the easy route and getting involved in existing industries - but visionaries and pioneers like MAN Ferrostaal are needed to develop a brand new industry. We would like to thank the company for this," said Lionel October, who is responsible for business promotion in the South African Ministry of Trade and Industry. "A plan is now becoming reality: a project that will have positive effects on our local and national economy," added Tasneem Essop, Minister of the Environment, Planning and Economic Development of the Western Cape province in Saldanha Bay.

Saldanha Bay Harbour, north of Cape Town, is the deepest and largest harbour in South Africa. MAN Ferrostaal will develop and construct the shipyard here as general contractor.  After completion, project partner Grinaker LTA will operate the facility, with the aid of DCD Dorbyl Heavy Engineering. Financing partners in the project were the German Investment and Development Company (DEG) and the South African Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). The South African company Atlantis Marine Projects took care of project development and feasibility studies.

With the shipyard in Saldanha Bay, MAN Ferrostaal has chosen a real growth market.  The oil and gas storage facilities in Africa make up around ten percent of the world's known stock. The USA has announced that it will increasingly cover its oil requirement in West and South Africa in the next ten years, in order to reduce its dependency on the Near East. Output will therefore sharply increase in the coming years. What is missing is shipyards for the construction and installation of production platforms. At present the platforms still come from Asia, Europe or the USA and have to be towed thousands of kilometres across the open sea to their place of use off the coast of Africa. This will change with the new shipyard in Saldanha Bay.

With this project, which is part of an offset business, MAN Ferrostaal is tapping a new market, and the South African state is securing foreign investments and jobs for its citizens. As well as the new shipyard in Saldanha Bay, the project also includes a maintenance and service station for oil and gas platforms in Cape Town. The construction work  for this will also begin in the coming weeks.

MAN Ferrostaal AG, Essen, with 4,700 employees and a turnover of 2.8 billion Euro (2005), is the industrial service provider in the MAN group. With its "Projects" and "Services" divisions, MAN Ferrostaal serves customers in more than 60 countries throughout the world. MAN Ferrostaal is a subsidiary of the MAN Aktiengesellschaft, Munich. The MAN group is one of the leading vehicle, engine and machine manufacturers in Europe, with an annual turnover of around 13 billion Euro. MAN is a supplier of HGVs, buses, diesel engines, turbo machines and industrial services, and employs around 50 000 staff worldwide. The MAN divisions occupy leading positions in their markets. MAN AG, Munich, is one of the leading German joint-stock companies in the German Stock Index DAX.

About MAN Ferrostaal AG:

MAN Ferrostaal is a worldwide supplier of industrial services for the construction of large-scale industrial plants and machine supply. As a general contractor for plant construction, the company offers project development, project management and financing solutions for turnkey plants in the areas of solar thermal power plants as well as biofuels, petrochemical and industrial plants. In ccoperation with manufacturers of machines and production lines, MAN Ferrostaal offers sales and services in the areas of automotive industries, print and packaging, piping, ships and transport solutions. With 4,200 employees MAN Ferrostaal is represented in more than 60 countries. The company achieved a turnover of EUR 1.4 billion in 2007.

MAN Ferrostaal is a subsidiary of MAN Aktiengesellschaft, Munich. The MAN Group is one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of engineering equipment and vehicles, generating annual sales of around EUR 16 billion. MAN supplies products, systems and services to the capital goods industry and employs approx. 55,000 people worldwide. The core areas operated by the MAN Group, Commercial Vehicles, Industrial Services, Diesel Engines and Turbomachines, all hold leading positions in their markets. MAN is a member of the DAX German Share Index, Germany’s top 30 public limited companies.