Tan Sri A.K.Nathan – Director
Tan Sri is the Principal Shareholder and Group Managing Director of Vahana Holdings’ Group of Companies. He is also the Executive Chairman and Group Managing Director and founder of Eversendai Corporation Berhad (“ECB”), a company listed on the Bursa Malaysia Securities (the Malaysian Stock Exchange) and Vahana Offshore (M) Sdn Bhd.
An entrepreneur at heart with over 30 years of experience and expertise in structural steel and plant construction under the Eversendai Group, Tan Sri saw an opportunity to foray into the Oil and Gas service industry in 2014. Vahana Offshore has embarked on building 2 units of Self-Propelled Jack-Ups/Liftboats and has awarded the contract to Eversendai Offshore to build these vessels at their strategically located, 200,000 square metre waterfront fabrication facility in Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates.
The Self-Propelled Jack-Ups/Liftboats will be in great demand due to its advanced technological and operational capabilities, ability to work in harsh weather environment and the increasing number of oil & gas offshore platforms. The Self-Propelled Jack-Ups/Liftboats have limited competition with high margins and take-up rates.
Tan Sri has developed Eversendai Corporation Berhad from a modest structural steel erection specialist in Malaysia into one of the world’s leading integrated structural steel turnkey contractors. Under Tan Sri’s leadership, the Eversendai Group has successfully completed the structural steel work for many high-profile global projects namely, Tower 2 of the Petronas and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia; the Burj Al Arab, Dubai Mall, Ski Dubai and Burj Khalifa in Dubai, UAE; Capital Gate in Abu Dhabi, UAE; and the New Doha International Airport in Doha, Qatar.
Tan Sri has also been instrumental in establishing steel fabrication facilities in Rawang, Dubai, Sharjah, Doha and Trichy with a combined annual capacity of over 210,000 tonnes. Today, Eversendai employs over 15,000 staff in 14 countries and operates out of 10 offices.
Tan Sri has won several notable industry awards which pay tribute to his contributions to the construction industry such as the Golden Construction Award 2008 from the Trade Leaders Club in Madrid, Spain, the Malaysian Entrepreneur of the Year 2008 from Ernst & Young as well as CEO of the Year Award in 2008 by CIDB. Tan Sri is also a prolific speaker and is often invited to deliver speeches at various seminars, forums, universities and conferences.
Narish Nathan – Chief Executive Officer
Narish Nathan is the Chief Executive Officer of Vahana Offshore. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Information Technology (Honours) from Coventry University, United Kingdom. He first joined Eversendai which is part of Vahana Holdings in Dubai in 2004, after which he was posted to Eversendai Qatar in 2006 as its General Manager where he, among others, set up Eversendai’s fabrication facility and managed several other major projects. He was also instrumental in securing several large contracts for the Group.
He also served the company as Country Head/ Executive Director for Indian operations representing 4 divisions i.e. Infrastructure, Engineering, Power and Fabrication.
Captain Arun – Chief Operating Officer
Captain Arun is the Chief Operating Officer for Vahana Offshore He is a qualified Master Mariner and a stalwart of the offshore jackup industry. He commenced his association with jackup units in 1988 and has over thirty years of experience in this field. He has worked for national and international drilling and oilfield companies including Hitech Drilling – a joint venture of Tata and Sedco Forex Schlumberger, in India and National Drilling Company – now ADNOC Drilling, in Abu Dhabi. He has been instrumental in establishing marine operating standards and asset integrity management systems for companies with diverse assets in offshore and onshore oil and gas drilling.
Arun is a known name in the offshore industry. In a career spanning several decades, he has had extensive interactions with heads of organizations, shipyards, designers and regulatory bodies worldwide. His career started in the merchant marine where he sailed on ocean-going ships in various capacities gaining valuable hands-on experience before moving into the oil and gas sector offshore. With his solid marine knowledge and understanding, he continued to serve on various offshore units, from Jackup drilling rigs to Semi-submersibles and Early Production Facilities. But his lifelong passion remains with Jack Up vessels, a segment of the industry he has served and managed for over three decades.
He has served as the Honorary Chairman of Regional Offshore Committee for a major Class society in United Arab Emirates, bringing vast benefits to the Middle East. Amongst his various achievements is the establishment of the Rigowners Seminar, a vibrant and highly successful forum for knowledge and experience sharing amongst offshore industry players; a forum that has attracted international experts since the last fifteen years. He has also jointly with other Jackup owners and major Class society, Det Norske Veritas been instrumental in establishing the world’s first ever Recommended Practices for the Maintenance and Inspection of Jacking Systems. He also has to his credit the environmental achievement of establishing the first Energy Management System for a Drilling Company in the Middle East.
Dilip Advani – Director (Operations & Technical)
Dilip Advani joined the group in February 2017. He brings with him 31 years of rich and diversified experience in Maritime and Industrial Sector.
With a sea going background as Chief Engineer on the main fleet, Dilip Advani has donned various roles on shore starting as a classification society surveyor, Project Manager in a shipyard, Maintenance Manager , Owners representative undertaking new builds.
He has held various senior roles as Technical Manager handling fleet of vessels in the Offshore sector.
His present role involves the operation and new builds of the jack-up fleet within the organization