Countdown for start-up of new repair yards

Phase one of the project will comprise two large drydocks, both 410m in length, with widths of 95m 80m. The yard will have 2,800m of repair quay, equipped with 14 jib cranes with capacities of between 40 and 100 tonnes.

Other facilities will include To a 7,000m² steel workshop, 6,000m² pipe and boiler shop, 2,250m² painting facility and 600m² cryogenic workshop for LNG equipment. The yard will also be equipped with a slop reception terminal and tank cleaning facilities.

Initially ODC said that it aims to target oil tankers up to ULCC size as well as LNG ships and other gas carriers, and will also be able to handle repairs on bulkers, car carriers and cruise ships, plus conversion projects including FPSOs and offshore rigs.

Further expansion plans include a 300m x 70m floating dock with capacity for ships up to 300,000 dwt.

Meanwhile, inside the Gulf, Nakilat-Keppel Offshore & Marine is making good progress on a new facility at Ras Laffan in Qatar, also expected to be operational in 2010. NKOM is a joint venture between Keppel Offshore & Marine and Qatar Gas Transport, better known as Nakilat.

The 43 ha yard will have two VLCC size drydocks and one Panamax size floating dock. The drydocks will have dimensions of 400m x 80m and 360m x 66m respectively, the larger drydocks due for completion by April 2010.

Adjacent to the drydocks will be a fabrication and lay-down area, at the end of which will be finger piers with a length sufficient to take Q-max LNG carriers or VLCCs up to around 330m in length. In total there will be six repair berths with a combined length of 3,200m.

The main aim of the initial construction phase is to provide facilities to repair and maintain the fast-growing Nakilat LNG fleet, which includes the large Q-max, Q-flex, and conventional LNG carriers supporting the Qatargas and Rasgas LNG projects. The yard will also support large tankers employed around Ras Laffan.

A series of further expansion phases will follow; with repair of medium-sized tankers and other cargo ships facilitated by the second construction phase, due to be completed by the end of 2010.

The ability to undertake FPSO and FSO conversion projects, as well as to fabricate offshore structures and land-based petrochemical plant, will be created by a third phase, while further stages include the development of shipbuilding facilities and areas dedicated to the repair of small ship types.