Nakilat and Keppel to build shipyard

Qatar Gas Transport Company Ltd. (NAKILAT) has signed an agreement with Singapore based Keppel Offshore & amp; Marine Limited (Keppel O&M) through its wholly owned subsidiary, KS Investments Ltd., to jointly develop a world-class shipyard facility in the Port of Ras Laffan, Qatar.

The proposed shipyard will be part of the massive expansion of the Port of Ras Laffan, in the Arabian Gulf, and is expected to begin operation in 2010. NAKILAT and KS Investments have agreed to form an 80/20 joint venture company to manage the design, construction and operation of the 43-hectare shipyard, which will be built on reclaimed land. KS Investments will contribute $23 million for its 20% interest in the joint venture.

The name of the JVC is Nakilat-Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. The new facility will be suitable for the repair and maintenance of very large LNG carriers and a wide range of other vessels, and the conversion of tankers to FPSOs and FSOs.

The estimated cost of the shipyard is approximately $450 million. Qatar Petroleum (QP) will fund the reclamation of the land and construction of the yard’s infrastructure, such as the two dry docks, the quays, buildings and utilities distribution networks. QP will lease the infrastructure to the JVC.

The JVC will fund the shipyard’s mobile equipment, such as the floating dock, cranes and workshop machinery, and provide cash for operations. The shipyard will be capable of expansion into the construction of specialized small ships such as OSVs and the fabrication of structures for the offshore oil and gas industry, such as jack-up drilling rigs,

process modules and decks, jackets, wellhead decks and flare booms, and the fabrication of components for land-based petrochemical and industrial plant. The facility will also provide life-cycle support in all the markets it serves.

The aim is for the new shipyard to become a centre of excellence for the repair and maintenance of LNG carriers, thereby securing a strategically important link in the supply chain of natural gas from wellhead to consumer.