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,” said 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,” he added.
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.
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,” Arnour Damen concluded.
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.
