Nakilat Shipyard, Port of Ras Laffan.
Qatar.

Qatar owns 15 per cent of the world’s total proven gas reserves.  The new shipyard is a milestone in the country’s strategy to create a marine industry to support production and transportation of its oil and gas to world markets.  The new shipyard, 80km north of Qatar’s capital city Doha, will undertake repair, maintenance and conversion of very large ships, as well as construction of specialist ships, including offshore supply vessels, tugs, coastal tankers, and the like.

The initial Feasibility Study for the shipyard, including site selection, was undertaken, in 2004, by First Marine International, which is now part of Royal Haskoning.  Subsequently, Royal Haskoning worked very closely with Nakilat, (owner of one of the world's largest fleets of LNG carriers), to undertake the detailed design and supervision of construction of all the shipyard facilities.

The shipyard is located approximately 8km from Qatar’s shoreline and was constructed on reclaimed land, totalling some 110 hectares.  Royal Haskoning designed, specified and supervised the initial comprehensive ground investigation for the shipyard, and advised on ground improvement following reclamation.

The "marine" works are immense, including two drydocks, the largest measuring 400m by 80m with a depth of 17.6m, and wet berths totalling 2.5 km in length.  With more than 50 years experience of shipyard and drydock design, Royal Haskoning designed and supervised the construction of the two large drydocks and their dock gates in one phase, a complex undertaking, involving integration of many different engineering disciplines.

The shipyard's "onshore" works include seven major industrial workshops, the largest of which is a 270m long, 60m wide shipbuilding hall, attached to which are support workshops, offices and amenities totalling over 15,000 square metres.  The shipyard also includes three multi-storey buildings, designed by Royal Haskoning, which were constructed to provide offices and amenities for shipyard employees and subcontractors, as well as representatives, of shipowners, Classification Societies, etc.  Both the "onshore" and "marine" works included integrating specialist mechanical and electrical facilities for the site as a whole.

Simon Harries, Royal Haskoning’s Director of Maritime, said: “Royal Haskoning is proud to be associated with this project, one of the world’s largest state-of-the-art facilities.  From the initial concept, through to construction and the inauguration of the shipyard, Royal Haskoning’s multi-disciplinary team has provided services in all aspects of the development to ensure a successful outcome.”