Arab Shipbuilding and Repair Yard (ASRY) has signed new agreements with leading Italian companies Fincantieri and Roboze to boost naval shipbuilding and repair and establish the Kingdom of Bahrain’s first smart plant dedicated to additive manufacturing.

The signing ceremony took place in the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

“These important strategic partnerships will further strengthen ASRY’s capabilities as the leading maritime fabrication and repair facility across the Arabian Gulf region,” said ASRY CEO Dr Ahmed Al Abri.

ASRY’s partnership with Fincantieri, one of the world’s largest shipbuilding groups will see the companies jointly assess opportunities for the design and construction of surface naval vessels up to 80 meters in length for domestic use by the Navy and the Coast Guard.

Signed by ASRY CEO Dr Ahmed Al Abri and Eugenio Santagata, General Manager of the Naval Vessels Division of Fincantieri, the partnership agreement will also explore the design and construction of similar-sized offshore units, as well as potential export contracts in the Gulf region.

Additionally, the two companies will collaborate on maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) services for naval, commercial, and offshore vessels, as well as the exchange of know-how in ship design and production processes optimization.

ASRY also signed a partnership agreement with Italian company Roboze, a global leader in additive manufacturing technologies for high-performance super-polymers and composite materials.

The agreement will establish Bahrain’s first industrial facility dedicated to advanced additive manufacturing. The new smart plant will be located within ASRY’s facilities in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Signed by Dr Al Abri and Alessio Lorusso, CEO of Roboze, the agreement will create an industrial hub designed to directly support marine MRO operations, as well as the oil & gas, energy, aerospace, and defense sectors, which require  access to high-performance, lightweight, and durable components for sustained operations.

ASRY and Roboze will jointly define and engineer the new production infrastructure, integrating industrial 3D printing, advanced super-polymer processing, composite manufacturing, and digitalized workflows.

The partnership agreement brings together ASRY’s industrial and maintenance expertise with Roboze’s technological leadership in additive manufacturing with high-performance materials recognized by the Kingdom of Bahrain as a “Strategic Technology of Interest.”

The new facility with cut downtime, optimize spare-parts management, and provide on-demand production of critical components, minimizing logistics costs and dependency on foreign suppliers.

Dr. Al Abri said: “This partnership strengthens our MRO capabilities and expands access to advanced technical components that are essential to the industries we serve.”

Mr Lorusso said: “Working with ASRY allows us to introduce a concrete, operations-driven production model tailored to the needs of high-demand sectors, from marine repair to critical applications in energy and defense.”

About ASRY

ASRY (Arab Shipbuilding & Repair Yard) is the Arabian Gulf's leading maritime repair and fabrication facility. Founded in 1977 in Bahrain, the multi-service yard operates in four sectors - Ship Repair & Conversion, Rig Repair & Conversion, Naval Repair & Conversion, Fabrication & Engineering. It covers all types of vessel repair including jack-up rigs and other offshore assets, as well as fabrication of onshore and offshore industrial components.