Nakilat Damen JV to build ships

Nakilat, the Qatar Gas Transport Company, plans to start building commercial and leisure vessels in the first half of next year in a venture with Damen Shipyards Group BN of the Netherlands. The LNG shipper is seeking to expand its revenue sources and the venture, in which QatarGas will have a majority stake, will be completed by the end of this year.

Nakilat and Damen plan to build ships as large as 120 metres in length, including luxury yachts and coast guard vessels, at the Ras Laffan port north of Doha. Nakilat has also formed a venture with Singapore’s Keppel Corp to operate a dry dock at Ras Laffan for the repair and maintenance of LNG tankers.

Qatar plans to more than double LNG production to 77 million tons a year by the end of 2010, by which time Nakilat will wholly or partly own 54 LNG carriers.