SITE INVESTIGATION

Fugro's expansion in Egypt

Fugro has opened new premises in Cairo’s Zahraa Al Maadi industrial zone, Egypt, as it expands the depth and range of its site characterisation and asset integrity services for offshore and onshore projects and infrastructure in the region.

 The ribbon ready to be cut at the official opening of Fugro’s new facility in Cairo, Egypt

The ribbon ready to be cut at the official opening of Fugro’s new facility in Cairo, Egypt

Extending to over 8,000m2, the new premises offer significantly expanded office, warehouse, engineering and equipment storage space, enabling Fugro's specialists to provide quick, fully integrated and resourced responses to projects onshore and offshore.

The new facility includes high-tech meeting and conference suites and a large capacity training room to support ongoing skills, leadership and induction to Fugro's world-class health and safety standards. Alongside this are high specification electronic and mechanical workshops for ROVs, subsea tooling and survey and geotechnical equipment, plus a geotechnical soil testing laboratory.

In addition, the new premises also features state-of-the-art ICT infrastructure, a central, energy-efficient air conditioning system and environmentally-friendly LED lighting.

Mike Dravitzki, Fugro's regional director for the marine division, said: "In officially opening this building, we demonstrate our commitment to Egypt. The new facilities support our integrated site investigation services for major civil infrastructure projects here, in addition to our expanding services for the offshore oil and gas industry.

"Having operated from rented premises in Egypt since the early 1980s, we view this project as a long-term investment to better support future growth of the business."

Also present was Fugro's regional director for the land division, John ten Hoope, who commented: "The new facilities are an ideal base from which to deliver our fast-growing site investigation services, which are supporting major projects such as the New Capital and the Zohr gas development, as well as other important energy and infrastructure investment in Egypt."

As well as enhancing operational efficiency, the expanded centre will enable Fugro to maintain the cultural and commercial benefits of service delivery by a largely native workforce (some 98 per cent). Personnel are trained in Fugro's quality ethos and high standards, gaining technical and professional skills that see many stay long-term, deepening the regional expertise.