Nakilat Damen Shipyards Qatar JV Achieves Milestone

On 23 November 2015, Nakilat Damen Shipyards Qatar (NDSQ) celebrated its first 5 years of operation. With 40 vessels delivered or under construction, the yard has proven its capability to support Qatar’s national strategy for economic diversification.

“The success of NDSQ is a credit to the vision of His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, The Father Emir of Qatar, as original founder of the Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma shipyard complex,” says Damen Chief Commercial Officer Arnout Damen. “On this occasion we’d like to thank the State of Qatar and our partner Nakilat, and congratulate the NDSQ team for their achievements.”

Diversifying the economy

NDSQ was established in 2010 as a joint venture between Qatar Gas Transport Company Ltd. (Nakilat) and Damen Shipyards Group. Located in the northeastern corner of Qatar, the yard is ideally positioned in the middle of the Arabian Gulf and able to build ships up to 170 metres in length in steel, aluminium and composites. By building these vessels in Qatar, Mr Damen says that NDSQ is supporting the economic diversification and development strategy in the Qatar National Vision 2030.

“We are proud to be delivering Damen vessels for the Hamad Port Project due to open next year, including four ASD Tugs 2913, three Stan Tugs 1606 and four Stan Pilot 1505 boats. We now also have a Letter of Intent in hand from the Qatar Emiri Naval Forces for one diving support vessel and six naval patrol boats.”

For the superyacht industry, NDSQ has one of the biggest facilities in the world for paintwork and refit with two dedicated 180-metre long fully climate-controlled covered halls. The yard is currently building two 71-metre fast diving vessels with full yacht finish, and has already performed a number of yacht refit/repair projects.

Health, Safety and Sustainability

Working to meet international standards and particularly the stringent demands of the offshore oil and gas industry, NDSQ is fully certified with ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004 and OHSAS 18001:2007.

“We are proud to announce that we currently have over 9 million hours without a Lost Time Incident since the start of our operation.” 

Mr Damen is also keen to highlight how NDSQ’s products contribute to Qatar’s sustainability objectives. “Damen’s designs have not only proven effective for their functions, but they are also engineered with low Total Cost of Ownership in mind. So our clients benefit from Damen’s R&D efforts into fuel efficient sustainable innovations as well as expertise in hybrid and LNG power alternatives.” 

Damen Shipyards Group

Damen Shipyards Group operates 32 shipbuilding and repair yards, employing 9,000 people worldwide. Damen has delivered more than 5,000 vessels in more than 100 countries and delivers some 160 vessels annually to customers worldwide. Based on its unique, standardised ship-design concept Damen is able to guarantee consistent quality.

Damen’s focus on standardisation, modular construction and keeping vessels in stock leads to short delivery times, low ‘total cost of ownership’, high resale values and reliable performance. Furthermore, Damen vessels are based on thorough R&D and proven technology.

Damen offers a wide range of products, including tugs, workboats, naval and patrol vessels, high speed craft, cargo vessels, dredgers, vessels for the offshore industry, ferries, pontoons and superyachts. 

For nearly all vessel types Damen offers a broad range of services, including maintenance, spare parts delivery, training and the transfer of (shipbuilding) know-how. Damen also offers a variety of marine components, such as nozzles, rudders, anchors, anchor chains and steel works.

In addition to ship design and shipbuilding, Damen Shiprepair & Conversion has a worldwide network of 15 repair and conversion yards with dry docks ranging up to 420 x 80 metres. Conversion projects range from adapting vessels to today’s requirements and regulations to the complete conversion of large offshore structures. DSC completes around 1,500 repair and maintenance jobs annually.