UAE yard rounds up period of intensive auditing with new ISO certification and approval from American Petroleum Institute
Albwardy Marine Engineering/Damen Shipyards Sharjah has recently received two quality management certifications: the first involving the new ISO 9001:2015 Management System Certificate awarded by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance (LRQA), and the the second is the American Petroleum Institute’s API Specification Q1.
At a recent presentation at Albwardy Damen’s facilities in the Sharjah Hamriyah Free Zone of the United Arab Emirates, representatives from LRQA awarded the yard the ISO 9001:2015 certificate. The presentation was the fruitful outcome of an intensive nine man-day auditing conducted by seasoned LRQA representatives.
The accreditation represents an update from the existing 9001:2008 Standard to the new ISO 9001:2015 Standard. While there are numerous core changes to the certification, a key aspect is that the Quality Management System is now positioned in the company’s Business Assurance and Management System.
“The increased focus on risks and KPIs makes it more of a business tool. This is especially helpful in the current economic climate,” explained Lars Seistrup, Managing Director of Albwardy Damen, addressing the revised ISO standard.
Albwardy Damen is one of the first organizations in the Middle East Region to achieve the newly introduced ISO certification.
The auditing period continued with a visit from the American Petroleum Institute (API) to review the yard’s management system. The outcome of this was the granting of the API Specification Q1. This verifies the yard’s quality management system regarding provision of ship repair services, shiplifting, transfer and undocking, building of new vessels and oil and gas unit repairs and conversions.