A contract to supply 10 jib cranes has been awarded to Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries Company LLC by Qatar-based gas transport company Nakilat. The contract includes the design, supply, construction, installation, test and commissioning of 10 rail mounted, level luffing, portal type jib cranes of capacities ranging between 30 tonnes and 100 tonnes.
The cranes are required for operation alongside the quays and dry docks of Nakilat’s new world-class shipyard which is being built in the Port of Ras Laffan, State of Qatar. In March 2007 Nakilat and Keppel O & M joined forces to create the joint venture company, Nakilat-Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. to manage the design, construction and operations of the shipyard.
The 43-hectare Nakilat ship repair yard will service and maintain Nakilat’s huge fleet of 54 LNG carriers as well as undertake work on all sizes and types of ships for other owners on a competitive basis. Nakilat’s shipyard will service and repair a wide range of vessels, offer conversion of tankers to FPSO and FSO facilities and provide fabrication of offshore structures for the oil & gas industry.
Mr. Muhammad Ghannam, Nakilat’s Managing Director said, “The awarding of the contract for jib cranes is significant because it marks the first in a series of contracts which will realize our vision for the new Nakilat shipyard to become a centre of excellence for the repair and maintenance of LNG carriers. This is a key step which will secure a strategically important link in the supply chain of bringing Qatar’s natural gas from the wellhead to the world.”
The Nakilat shipyard is part of the massive expansion of the Port of Ras Laffan in the Arabian Gulf where the world’s largest LNG developments are being undertaken. When complete, the State of Qatar will be the world’s leading supplier of LNG.