The cost of cathodic protection for an offshore installation is less than one per cent of the total, but without such protection a project could be at serious risk, says a Sharjah-based industry expert.

'Although the cathodic protection system is such a small percentage of the total cost of a project, there are considerable advantages in having a regional supplier of anodes,' says Maurice Cregan, marketing manager of Alico Industries, the largest manufacturer of sacrificial anodes in the Gulf and a supplier of some 80 per cent of the offshore cathodic protection market in the region. Alico celebrates 20 years in the business this year.
Often it is not the actual cost of the anodes, which may be shipped from Europe or the US, which causes a problem, says Cregan.
'If the anodes are to be fitted as the structure is being rolled up in the fabrication yard, any delay in getting the anodes on time can affect the overall timetable of the project - and that can be costly as well as being a hazardous operation,' he explained.
That's where a reliable local supplier comes in.
Although Alico manufactures standard anode sizes, it also fabricates special steel moulds to meet customer requirements.
To do this, it has invested heavily over the years in furnace and laboratory equipment to ensure that stringent specifications are met precisely, and today the company's facilities include an 8,000 sq m factory, 6,000 sq m of outside storage and 500 sq m of office space, as well as four 2.5 tonne rotary furnaces, pipe bending facilities, a fully equipped tool room and fabrication shop and the fully equipped laboratory.
'The percentages of the activating alloys used in some cases are very small, but they have to be accurate for the anode to work in accordance with its metallurgical specification,' says Cregan.
Quality control involves a sample of each melt in the furnace being taken before the anodes are cast. Spectrographic analysis of the sample shows if it meets specifications.
One of Alico's trump cards is an aluminium-based alloy developed by Dow Chemicals of the US and called Galvalum, which for many applications is regarded as the best commercially available alloy for sacrificial anodes.
Zinc alloy is also used, but there are limits to its application. For example, it is virtually ineffective at temperatures of more than 60 deg C and so cannot be used for pipelines carrying products at higher temperatures.
In its search for an alloy with universal cathodic protection capabilities, Dow Chemicals introduced Galvalum III in 1974.
This alloy uses indium as an activator, instead of mercury, and is therefore more environmentally friendly.
It is also more tolerant of heat, having proven satisfactory protection for pipelines up to 100 deg C.
In addition, Galvalum III has worked well in oilfield brine treatment equipment operating in 15 per cent sodium chloride at 75 deg C as well as open seawater and saline mud.
In addition to the Galvalum family, Alico's own alloy has proven to be a successful cathodic protection provider. AIL III again uses indium as an activator but with considerably lower impurity percentages. For example, copper content has been reduced from a maximum of 0.006 to 0.002 per cent and iron from a maximum of 0.12 to 0.07 per cent.
The high purity of the alloy is thanks largely to the fact that Alico sources its high quality aluminium exclusively from the nearby Dubai Aluminium Company (Dubal), says Cregan. 'AIL III has also received type approval from DNV,' he adds. Alico has a current manufacturing capacity of 5,000 tonnes per year.
Cregan has witnessed the entire evolution of Alico from its inception in 1983 and over the years the ISO9001-1993 certified (shortly to be to 9001 - 2000) Company has supplied most of the Gulf region's largest offshore companies and projects, including  Saudi Aramco for whom Alico is currently supplying some 300 tonnes of pipeline and platform anodes, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) Group of Companies, notably Abu Dhabi Marine Areas Operating Company (Adma-Opco) and Zakum Development Company (Zadco) and, in Qatar the Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company (RasGas) project, for which Alico has supplied more than 1,000 tonnes of anodes to date.
Just as significant in recent times has been Alico's move into the highly competitive yet potentially lucrative global export markets.
Cregan points out that in the last year Alico has won major contracts against stiff competition for the supply of 400 tonnes of anodes to McDermott Houston for their Carina Aries contract with Argentina's TFE; 500 tonnes to Stolt Offshore Paris for the BG Scarab Saffron project in the deepwater Mediterranean and the supply of 1,000 tonnes of platform and pipeline anodes to BP through Azerbaijan International Oil Company (AIOC) for their Caspian development project.
Tight cost controls, relatively low labour and energy costs in Sharjah and an established reputation for quality and delivery against challenging lead times have all combined to position Alico as an industry leader and now global player, says Cregan.
With its obvious strength lying in the offshore cathodic protection market, Cregan stresses that there are no current plans for the Company to move beyond the manufacture of sacrificial anodes or to serve onshore markets.
Strong and increasing demand for existing products has meant that the Company will move to larger premises next year in Sharjah.
With agents also in India, Egypt and Scotland, the Company's penetration into global markets looks well set to continue.