Arab Shipbuilding & Repair Yard Company (Asry) has signed a build, operate and transfer (BOT) contract for the completion and upgrading of the Asry reverse osmosis sea water desalination plant in Bahrain.

In late August 2014 Arsy awarded the BOT project to a consortium composed by Gulf Marketing House and Spain's Inexa, which will supply all technical resources and equipment required for the project.

The project involves the expansion of the reverse osmosis sea water desalination plant capacity to 7,000 tonnes per day. The project also includes the operation of the facilities for a period of 25 years. At the end of the contract, the ownership of the water desalination plant will be transferred to Asry.

The desalination plant project has been previously managed by Gemsil Aquatech Services. The reverse osmosis sea water desalination plant has an initial production capacity of 3,000 tonnes per day.

The total project investment is estimated at US$8.6 million.

When completed the plant will meet Asry's future outer water requirements and contribute to Bahrain's national requirement for drinking water. The new facilities are scheduled to start operations by April 2015.

We have recently reported about the Bahrain Affordable Housing PPP project, which achieved financial close on 28 October 2014. Ithmar Development, the company sponsoring the project, has recently selected Hill International to provide project management services for new facilities.