| Danial Norjidi |
A LOCAL commercial diving company, Al-Hadid Marine Services (B) Sdn Bhd received certificates recognising it as an external specialist for in-water survey services yesterday, making it the first Bumiputera company in Brunei Darussalam to obtain recognition from two marine class classification societies, namely American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and Bureau Veritas (BV).
The certificates were presented in a ceremony at the Al-Fath Hall of the Maritime Ports Authority, which saw the attendance of Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Mustappa bin Haji Sirat, the Minister of Communications as the guest of honour.
The proceedings began with a recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah, after which Pengiran Hajah Reda Farizah binti Pengiran Dato Paduka Haji Ismail, the Director of Al-Hadid Marine Services (B) Sdn Bhd, delivered opening remarks.
“We at Al-Hadid Marine not only recognise the importance of safety aspects, but it is also one of our goals to provide services in compliance with international standards. We have established professional networks with several international professional bodies in marine fields, such as the International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA), the Australian Diver Accreditation Scheme (ADAS) and Commercial Diving Association Singapore (CDAS).
“Now, Al-Hadid Marine Services (B)Sdn Bhd has been awarded international recognition as an in-water survey specialist and service supplier for ABS and BV Class.”
She noted that the experience of having to meet the professional requirements set by ABS and BV was “very wide, very tough and demanding”. She shared that evaluations were made on the management, office, workshop, equipment, staff as well as on-the-job practical work on ships for cleaning and inspection.
The auditors were very thorough and meticulous, she said. “Our heartfelt thanks to ABS and BV for this opportunity to be awarded the recognition as your service provider. We look forward to a fruitful relationship.”
Pengiran Hajah Reda Farizah proceeded to note that the main business of Al-Hadid is commercial diving services. “We put great attention on using local workers and training and improving their skill sets to the job competence of the required field of work.
“We have 27 full time staff, consisting of professional air divers who are certified by the ADAS, Dive Medical Technicians (DMT), dive technicians and so on. We are also proud to share that we have developed and trained three local air divers to become IMCA air diving supervisors.”
She shared that Al-Hadid also sponsored the staff to undergo DMT and Dive Technicians training as well as training for Quality Assurance Quality Control (QAQC) to ISO standards and Health Safety Environment (HSE). This, she explained, is in line with Al-Hadid’s HR policy to identify local talent and to develop them.
“We also have a complete complement of diving gear, tools and other equipment with the necessary accessories. I am also glad to inform that we have a fully functional decompression chamber, DCC, which is operated and maintained by our own trained staff.”
She noted that Al-Hadid has also been appointed as authorised agents and distributors for sales and maintenance by James Fisher Defense (JFD), as well as registered vendors to a number of companies like Brunei Methanol Company (BMC), Total, Brunei Shell Petroleum Sdn Bhd (BSP), etc.
“With this recognition, it is our hope that more local and foreign companies will recognise the capabilities of the Al-Hadid Company in the commercial services of professional diving, thus providing the trust to offer some work or contract with them.
“At the same time we seek the cooperation of the relevant government to ensure that the national and international standards and guidelines are fully complied with, especially in terms of safety and HSE,” she added.
Remarks were also delivered by Mohd Razali Moktar, the Malaysia Country Manager for ABS, who said, “For ABS, I am very proud and this marks a historic moment for Brunei, where we can help a local company to be a recognised company under ABS. Welcome on-board. After this, Al-Hadid will be listed on the ABS website, where our clients from around the world will be able to use Al-Hadid’s services where required.”
Dr Haji Kamaruddin bin Dato Seri Paduka Haji Talib, the Chairman of Bureau Veritas Brunei congratulated Al-Hadid Marine Services for their achievement on becoming recognised as an approved in-water survey company for Bureau Veritas in Brunei Darussalam.
“Before this, the service of in-water survey could only be attained overseas. Al-Hadid Marine Services, identifying and understanding this requirement, has taken this opportunity to develop and utilise local talent to provide commercial diving services that are very useful for in-water survey.
“Al-Hadid Marine Services has taken the initiative to attain recognition from Bureau Veritas as an approved service supplier. With this, shipping companies in Brunei Darussalam no longer need to look overseas now that there is a local company that can fulfil the requirements of in-water survey.”
“This is a very proud achievement and will be a benchmark for companies that wish to be involved in this industry. I also hope that today’s achievement by Al-Hadid Marine Services will open the eyes of local companies to realise that there are many more new ideas and services that can be explored in this country’s maritime sector.”
After the speeches, the presentation of certificates from the two Marine Class Classification Societies took place, before the event concluded with the recitation of Doa Selamat.
After the presentation, the Minister of Communications shared his thoughts with the Bulletin on the event, saying “This is very important. What Al-Hadid achieved is international recognition, especially in some of the services they are providing which are very important in the maritime and shipping industries.
“I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Al-Hadid for another important milestone in providing services for the marine and shipping industry.
“I think this is a very niche area and very unique,” he added. “What they’re doing is something which requires a very high level of professionalism, and the fact that we are getting international recognition of our ability to provide such services is very important for the country, especially in our effort to develop the maritime sector.”
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