New shiprepair yard launched in Qatar

Located at the north-eastern tip of Qatar within the Ras Laffan industrial city and close to the LNG terminals and the Ras Laffan port, N-KOM will operate the ship repair facilities known as phases 1 & 2 of the six-phase project comprising the 110-hectare Nakilat shipyard site. The yard is designed with optimal flexibility to undertake the entire spectrum of repair, conversion and construction for a wide range of marine and offshore vessels and structures.

The design and construction of the 43-hectare ship repair yard started in 2007 and comprises two drydocks (400m x 80m and 360m x 66m) both with 12m of water over the sill, one 20,000 tonne lift capacity floating dock and six full length berths totalling 2,400m in length. The new facility will serve the Nakilat fleet of LNG carriers and also undertake work for other shipowners as well as the conversion of tankers to various configurations for offshore production, storage and off loading.

On the occasion of the opening ceremony, N-KOM strengthened its credentials with the signing of a three year ‘fleet agreement’ with Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Limited (STASCo). N-KOM also entered into Letters of Intent with Gulf Drilling International, Mitsui OSK Lines, NYK Lines, K-Line, Idemitsu Tankers, Iino Lines and MARCAS to provide shipyard and dry docking services for their vessels.

N-KOM was also presented with certification from DNV for its Integrated Management Systems covering ISO 9001 for Quality, OSHAS 18001 for Occupational Health and Safety and ISO 14001 for Environmental Management.

A second JV was established with Damen Shipyards Group under the name of Nakilat Damen Shipyards Qatar (NDSQ). This JV manages the ship construction facilities, known as phase 4 of the Nakilat shipyard and is designed to build high-value ships, including commercial vessels, naval and coastguard vessels as well as superyachts. These ships will be constructed completely undercover up to a maximum length of 120m.

The N-KOM and NDSQ Joint Ventures are both strategic and key to the goal of positioning the State of Qatar as an internationally recognized center of excellence in ship building, repair and conversion.