Saudi Arabia to Build Worldclass Shipyard

Royal HaskoningDHV UK and Hyundai Engineering & Construction have been selected to perform the Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) for the infrastructure of a world-class and globally competitive maritime yard in Ras Al-Khair, Saudi Arabia.

The maritime yard will comprise a distinct shipyard facility for large shipbuilding, large ship repair, offshore rigs fabrication, and offshore support vessel repair.  As planned, this facility will become the largest maritime yard in the world providing a range of services.  It will be located north of Jubail on the Arabian Gulf. 

The maritime yard will have a range of facilities including seven fully-equipped dry docks, two basins and five piers, a shiplift system, workshops, warehouses, utility services areas, as well as office buildings, living quarters and recreational facilities for more than 10,000 workers.

Royal HaskoningDHV undertook the initial market study for the maritime yard in 2014.  The FEED development work is now scheduled to take five months.

The complex, which is due to be fully operational by 2021, is part of Saudi Arabia’s sweeping economic reform plan aimed at reducing the dependence of the Saudi economy on oil revenues.

Saudi Aramco, the state oil giant in charge of the project, has said it expects the complex to create 80,000 jobs and allow Saudi Arabia to reduce its imports by $12 billion while increasing gross domestic product by $17 billion.

Adrian Arnold, Project Director at Royal HaskoningDHV said, “Maritime yards must be globally competitive with facilities which are cost-effective, operationally flexible, and durable. This project combines four different yards into a single development, creating significant opportunities for economies of scale and enhancing the country’s economic development.”