The creation of the Duqm Naval Dockyard (DND) Joint Venture between Babcock International Group and the Oman Drydock Company (ODC) in November 2016 was quickly followed by company incorporation in June 2017. DND combines the well-honed skill sets of ODC and Babcock to establish a focussed warship repair and maintenance facility within the broader commercial Port of Duqm. The latter serves as a secure logistics and supply hub in a deep water port adjacent to the dockyard. Thus, in one location, Duqm provides the facilities of both a naval base and a naval dockyard. This combination has been successfully tested through a number of contracts to date, and the UK-Omani bilateral defence exercise, Saif Sareea, in the autumn of 2018, successfully tested the UK’s concept of ‘Defence Hub Duqm’.

The creation of the Duqm Naval Dockyard (DND) Joint Venture between Babcock International Group and the Oman Drydock Company (ODC) in November 2016 was quickly followed by company incorporation in June 2017. DND combines the well-honed skill sets of ODC and Babcock to establish a focussed warship re...