It is reported that Nakilat Keppel Offshore & Marine is making good progress on a new shipyard facility at Ras Laffan in Qatar which is also expected to be operational by 2010. NKOM is a JV between Keppel Offshore & Marine and Qatar Gas Transport, better known as Nakilat and the total investment in the facility is estimated to be around USD 450 million.
As per report, the 43 hectare yard will have 2 VLCC size dry docks and one panamax size floating dock. The dry docks will have dimensions of 400m x 80m and 360m x 66m respectively and the larger of the 2 dry docks will be completed by April 2010.
Adjacent to the dry docks 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 330 meters in length. In total there will be 6 repair berths with a combined length of 3200 meters.
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 that are being delivered for various charters, to support the Qatargas and Rasgas LNG export projects. The yard will also support large tankers employed in the transportation of condensate from the facilities around Ras Laffan.
A series of further expansion phases will follow on from the establishment of LNG repair capabilities at Ras Laffan yard. The repair of medium sized tankers and other cargo ships will be facilitated by the second construction phase which is 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 Phase III of the development, while further stages include the development of shipbuilding facilities and areas dedicated to the repair of small ship types.
A spokesperson for Keppel said that "The establishment of the yard will increase our presence in the Middle East. It will also strengthen our near market, near customer strategy which is to operate close to our customers to provide them with a better service."
(Sourced from Oman Drydocks Co)
