Drydocks World Dubai from the United Arab Emirates Team of the Year - Marine Services

Innovation played a crucial role in driving positive change, fostering growth, and creating long-term value within the company and its communities.

For its sustainable and ethical business practices and processes, Drydocks World (DDW) clinched the United Arab Emirates Team of the Year - Marine Services prize at the recent Middle East Management Excellence Awards 2025 recognising their pathway to Sustainability.

A leading provider of marine and offshore services in the maritime industry worldwide, focusing on the shipping, oil and gas and energy sectors, DDW is committed to advancing responsible sustainability in the maritime Industry. To achieve these goals, DDW established a Sustainability team to ensure the well-being of people, protection of assets, environment, and community in the fulfillment of its business activities.

Four key pillars support sustainability goals

Drydocks World’s sustainability commitments are anchored in four key pillars: Human, Social, Economic & Environment. The sustainability initiatives are focused on employee well-being, environmental management, social impact, sustainable innovation, etc. DDW aligned its initiative with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the Conference of the Parties Vision, and the UAE Sustainability vision and global best practices.

The sustainability team, however, faced challenges, including measuring the impact of sustainability efforts and tracking progress towards its goals, changing regulations and standards, and managing supplier sustainability performance.

In the absence of international standards for the Sustainability system, the team continuously stayed informed and adapted to the changing regulations, industry trends, and best sustainability practices whilst continuously adapting its sustainability strategy plan. Meanwhile, a pre-qualification evaluation was developed for key suppliers on environmental, sustainability and governance goals, and ensured active collaboration and communication on sustainability matters.

Innovation played a key role in the sustainability team’s efforts to drive positive change, foster growth, and create long-term value within the company, some of which included embracing circular economy (Net Zero/Zero Carbon emission) principles from product design to disposal to promote resource efficiency, minimise waste, and encourage product reuse and recycling.

To improve energy efficiency and indoor air quality, the company has implemented green building standards and smart technologies in the construction of its new head office; as a result, it will be certified as LEED Gold standard. The company has also initiated nature-based efforts relevant to its industry to enhance biodiversity and mitigate climate change, such as seabed cleaning and establishing tree and mangrove plantations.

As part of the organisation's commitment to achieving net zero emissions, it actively monitors and measures Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3 emissions. DDW has developed a comprehensive action plan to address these emissions and track the progress towards net zero goals. DDW has transitioned to renewable energy with the purchase of International Renewable Energy Certificates, which enabled the business to track and verify its clean energy consumption and offset a portion of its electricity consumption. The certificate assures that 100% of the electricity procured is renewable and nature-sourced from Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, UAE.

By embedding “artificial intelligence” solutions into its sustainability initiatives, the company was able to make more informed decisions, optimise resource usage, and reduce the environmental impact. One area that proved highly useful was in analysing patterns in energy usage and identifying areas where energy can be conserved.

Drydocks World’s achievements in sustainability

The changes pioneered by DDW’s sustainability team resulted in significant achievements. The company was able to conduct health screen assessments, such as vision, audiometry, and pulmonary function tests for over 3,000 employees and administer a total of 5,650 flu shots during the year 2024. Fifteen health and wellness awareness sessions on diabetes, thyroid, chickenpox, breast cancer, mental health, heat management, and yoga were conducted. In addition, employees enjoyed 38 engagement events.

Within its local communities, DDW made sure to meet 100% compliance in ambient air quality and ambient noise limits during its operations. Aside from the tree and mangrove planting activities and beach cleanup activities, the company also conducted blood donation drives, which successfully collected 603 blood units to help save about 1,809 lives.

The company has completed 237 vessels (maintenance, repair & conversion) with zero harm during the year 2024, allowing it to achieve peak profits and gain financing approval that will continue to support its sustainability projects. DDW also invested in green and blue projects such as sustainable building, electrical equipment, robotic hydro blasting machines, and wastewater treatment plants, amongst others—which brought in financing that will continue to support such projects. At the same time, more than 1,000 employees received advanced training that introduced metaverse and augmented reality technologies to reduce material costs and improve productivity.

During the year 2024, the company reduced carbon emissions by 14.65% and plastic bottle consumption by 55% from the previous year, completed 6,275 sqm of seabed cleanup within its premises, recycled 92% of waste generated, and sourced all its renewable energy usage from Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park.

New renewable energy contracts also contributed to DDW’s sustainability achievements and business growth, including the Ostwind 4 project, a landmark initiative that will deliver a 2 GW high-voltage direct current grid connection from the Baltic Sea to Germany, powering nearly two million households annually.  Dry Docks World’s commitment to the UN SDGs has been recognised and certified by UNGP. DDW is the first and only organisation to have received this certification in the Marine industry in the Middle East.

For its achievements, DDW was honoured with the top prize of the United Arab Emirates Team of the Year - Marine Services during the Middle East Management Excellence Awards 2025.

The Middle East Management Excellence Awards, presented by Asian Business Review, is a prestigious awards programme that recognises the most outstanding business leaders in the region. It also honours companies with exceptional employee engagement and diversity & inclusion initiatives.

The Middle East Management Excellence Awards is presented by Asian Business Review Magazine. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2026 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's employee engagements and management initiatives, please contact Danica Avila at [email protected].