Mohammed bin Zayed tours ESB shipyard

General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, paid today an inspection tour of the Etihad Ship Building (ESB) factory, a joint venture between joint venture Al Fattan Ship Industries, Melara Middle East and Italy's shipbuilder Fincantieri, at Taweela area.

After welcoming by Musbah Rashid Al Fattan, Chairman of ESB, and senior executive managers, Sheikh Mohammed acquainted himself with different parts of the factory and its capabilities for manufacturing and producing civil and military vessels.

He was also informed about the ESB's Emiratisation policy and partnerships it entered with major world shipbuilders like Italian leading shipbuilder Fincantieri, for transfer of advanced industry technology.

The company is building ships in consistence with strict international standards of safety and environmental consideration. It plans to expand its operation beyond the UAE to the region.

The Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi expressed satisfaction at what he had seen and heard about the ESB's current and future objectives and at its strategy to build a generation of Emirati professionals to involve and run the local ship building industry.

ESB's target is to establish a fully capable local shipyard with all related processes like design, engineering, construction, outfitting, project management, test trials, maintenance and repair.