4 January 2011
Capita Symonds provided event health and safety consultancy
services on the recent inauguration of the new Nakilat Ship Repair
Yard in Doha.
Located at the Ras Laffan port, the 43-hectare
ship yard is set to put Qatar on the map as a world leader in ship
maintenance and repair.
Capita Symonds’ Mike Williams and Mesh
Ruparelia worked on the inauguration event on behalf of organsiers
WRG Qatar LLC. The inauguration was conducted by H H The Emir
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, together with Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry H E Abdullah bin Hamad
Al Attiyah, and Lebanese President Michel Suleiman.
The opening ceremony combined state-of-the-art
technology and acrobatic performances to showcase the synergy
between the three companies and countries behind the construction
and completion of the shipyard - Nalilat (Qatar) Damen Shipyards
Group (Netherlands); Keppel Marine (Singapore).
A giant windmill and replica of the merlion
(an imaginary creature with the head of a lion and the body of a
fish) represented The Netherlands and Singapore respectively while
a large dhow (a traditional Arab sailing vessel) symbolised Qatar's
shipbuilding history. Meanwhile, nine flat screen panels showed
video clips of the construction progress of the shipyard.
The shipyard has been designed for the repair
and maintenance of very large LNG carriers and a wide range of
other vessels, as well as for the conversion of tankers to Floating
Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) and Floating Storage and
Offloading (FSO) units.
It is also capable of constructing a
wide variety of ships up to 120 metres in length, including:
commercial vessels (e.g. tugs, offshore supply vessels, coastal
tankers, ferries), naval and coastguard vessels, and
superyachts.
Key features of the shipyard include two large
dry docks: 400m long x 80m wide; and 360m long x 66m wide. There is
also a massive ship construction hall, 270m long x 65m wide x 45m
high, capable of building four 120m long vessels simultaneously,
completely undercover.