OREANDA-NEWS. Rigmarine has four global locations—others are in Baku, Azerbaijan; Sharjah, UAE; and Aberdeen, Scotland—all strategically positioned to serve offshore oil and gas, renewables, construction, break bulk, shipping and marine industries. However, the economic climate in Kazakhstan, in particular, lends itself to diversification.

Situated to the east of the Caspian Sea (Baku, Azerbaijan is 230 miles south west on the opposite coastline), the Aktau site is well placed to serve the nearby Kashagan and Tengiz oil fields but, more notably of late, Kazakhstan’s mining and power industries are demanding heavy lifting equipment as the oil and gas market remains cool in the region.

Neil Brodie, general manager at Rigmarine Kazakhstan LLP, said: “While globally there are positive signs for the [oil and gas] sector, the Kashagan field has experienced problems and I don’t anticipate Phase II of the drilling project to commence for a number of years. Mines and power stations however are showing signs of greater potential and there are opportunities to leverage our heavy lift expertise and product supply capabilities.”

Despite the fact that Kazakhstan’s mines are located in eastern regions, such as Almaty, Astana, Karaganda and Pavlodar (the latter is approximately 2,000 miles away in the country’s northeastern corner), Brodie said Rigmarine wouldn’t need to expand its footprint and could serve an expanded customer base through recruitment of additional sales representatives.