Maritime success in QatarA ceremony in November 2010 to mark the inauguration of the Erhama bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard at the Port of Ras Laffan, State of Qatar, is the triumphant outcome of one of the most impressive and maritime engineering projects in the world.Qatar owns 15 percent of the world's total proven gas reserves. The new shipyard is a milestone in the country's strategy to create a marine industry to support production worked very closely with Nakilat, (owner of one of the world's largest fleets of LNG carriers), to undertake the detailed design and supervision of construction of all the shipyard facilities.The shipyard is located approximately 8km from Qatar's shoreline and was constructed on reclaimed land, totalling some 110 hectares. Royal Haskoning designed, specified and supervised the initial comprehensive ground and transportation of its oil and gas to world markets. The new shipyard, 80km north of Qatar's capital city Doha, will undertake repair, maintenance and conversion of very large ships, as well as construction of special ships. Site selection was undertaken in 2004 by First Marine International, which is now part of Royal Haskoning. Subsequently, Royal Haskoning >> 8rangeinternational

"investigation for the shipyard and advised on ground improvement following reclamation.The 'marine' works are immense, including two drydocks, the largest measuring 400m by 80m with a depth of 17.6m, and wet berths totalling 2.5km in length. With more than 50 years experience of shipyard and drydock design, Royal Haskoning designed and supervised the construction of the two large drydocks and "their dock gates in one phase, a complex undertaking involving integration of many different engineering disciplines.The shipyard's 'onshore' works include seven major industrial workshops, the largest of which is a 270m long, 60m wide shipbuilding hall, attached to which are support workshops, offices and amenities totalling over 15,000 square metres. The shipyard also includes three multi-storey buildings. Designed by Royal Haskoning these provide offices and amenities for shipyard employees and subcontractors, as well as representatives of ship owners and classification societies. Both the 'onshore' and 'marine' works included integrating specialist mechanical and electrical facilities for the site as a whole.David Greenhalghd.greenhalgh@royalhaskoning.comPhotograph courtesy of NakilatRoyal Haskoning is proud to be associated with this project, one of the world's largest state-of-the-art facilities. From the initial concept, through to construction and the inauguration of the shipyard, Royal Haskoning's multi-disciplinary team has provided services in all aspects of the development to ensure a successful outcome.Simon Harries, Royal Haskoning's Director of Maritimerangeinternational >> 9