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Nakilat and Damen Shipyards Group Join Forces
Nakilat and Damen have agreed to form a 70/30 joint venture company (JVC) to manage the operation of the 15-hectare shipyard, which has been built on reclaimed land in the expanded Port of Ras Laffan. The name of the JVC is: Nakilat Damen Shipyards Qatar, Limited. The Ship Construction Facility, scheduled to commence operations in the first quarter 2010, is a state-of-the-art facility capable of building vessels with a length overall of up to 120m. The facility has been designed to produce a wide variety of vessels, to include: - Commercial vessels (e.g. tugs, offshore supply vessels, coastal tankers, ferries). - Naval and Coastguard vessels. - Luxury yachts (Custom and semi-custom steel / aluminium vessels). The facility includes a Construction Hall, 270m long, 65m wide and 40m high, in which four (4) 120m long vessels can be constructed simultaneously. Supporting facilities also include fabrication, pipe working, and mechanical & electrical shops which utilize the latest process technologies, to ensure world-class quality, delivery and productivity. About Nakilat: Qatar Gas Transport Company Ltd. (known as “Nakilat”, which means carriers in Arabic) www.nakilat.com.qa is a Qatari-listed shipping company established by the State of Qatar to own, operate and manage LNG vessels and to provide shipping and marine-related services to a range of participants within the Qatari hydrocarbon sector. Nakilat is an integral component of the supply chain of some of the largest, most advanced energy projects in the world undertaken by Qatar Petroleum, Qatargas, RasGas and their joint venture partners for the State of Qatar. Nakilat was established in 2004, and is a joint stock company owned 50% by its founding shareholders and 50% by the public. It is building a large fleet of vessels to transport LNG produced from Qatar’s North Field-- the world’s largest non-associated gas field with approximately 15% of the world’s total proven reserves-- to global markets. By mid 2010, Nakilat will own 54 LNG vessels, making it the largest LNG ship owner in the world. These vessels, ordered from Korean shipyards, incorporate the latest technology for safe, reliable and cost-effective transportation of LNG , and are the result of several years of engineering design work and testing. Nakilat is further developing Qatar’s marine industrial base via new world-class shipbuilding and ship repair facilities in the Port of Ras Laffan. In 2007 Nakilat formed a Joint Venture (“JV”) with Keppel Offshore & Marine - a global leader in ship repair and conversion. This new JV, N-KOM (Nakilat-Keppel Offshore & Marine) will operate Nakilat’s state-of-the-art ship repair yard. More recently, Nakilat formed a JV with Damen Shipyards Group N-DSQ (Nakilat-Damen Shipyards Qatar). The N-DSQ Joint Venture will manage the construction of high-value ships, including commercial vessels (e.g. tugs, offshore supply vessels, coastal tankers and ferries), naval and coastguard vessels (e.g. corvettes, patrol boats and fast attack craft) and luxury yachts (custom and semi-custom steel / aluminium vessels > 30m LoA). The N-KOM and N-DSQ Joint Venture partnerships 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. Damen Shipyards Group |
Doha, Qatar, 21 January 2010 – Qatar Gas Transport Company Ltd. (Nakilat) has signed a joint venture agreement with Damen Shipyards Qatar Holding B.V., a wholly owned subsidiary of Damen Shipyards Group, to jointly operate a world-class shipbuilding facility in the Port of Ras Laffan, Qatar.
This agreement provides a landmark partnership between the world’s leading transporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and a global leader in shipbuilding.