Offshore shipyard opens in Qatar

Qatar owns 15% 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 others.

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 some 110 hectares of reclaimed land. 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. 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 sq/m. 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 ship owners, Classification Societies, etc. Both the onshore and marine works included integrating specialist mechanical and electrical facilities for the site as a whole.