The world’s media shown around Nakilat Damen Shipyard during Qatar International Boat Show 2014

To highlight the increasing role that Qatar is playing in the international maritime industry, representatives of the world’s media were taken on a tour of the Nakilat Damen Shipyards (NDSQ) at Ras Laffan, as one of the many special events organised as part of the Qatar International Boat Show 2014.

NDSQ, located at the Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard, has access to world-class facilities equipped with the latest technologies, machines and tools available in the shipbuilding industry.

Rino Brugge, managing director of NSDQ welcomed the group, who are mainly visiting the Gulf state for the second edition of the Qatar International Boat Show. He commented, “I am delighted to welcome you to NDSQ and show you our facilities used for building superyachts, commercial ships and naval crafts in steel, aluminium or fibre-reinforced plastic.”

The company was established in 2010 as a joint venture company between Qatar Gas Transportation Company (Nakilat), the world’s leading transporter of liquefied natural gas, and Damen Shipyards Group – a global leader in shipbuilding.

The facility is capable of building ships using steel, aluminium or modern FRP with a length of up to 170m. It has two travel lifts capable of lifting 1,100 tonnes and 300 tonnes respectively – the former being the largest such hoist in any boatyard worldwide. It has an in-house, dedicated and experienced yacht project team as well as an experienced repair workforce and can manage, supervise and carry out related repairs, refits, new builds, basic maintenance, dry dock works and so on. 14 major refits of yachts, up to 80 metres in length were carried out since the start of the operation.

David Robinson, a specialist yachting journalist was impressed by what he saw, “The state-of-the-art NDSQ shipyard has the capacity to build among the world's largest superyachts; and this will uniquely place Qatar in the Middle East for building these highly luxurious and sophisticated vessels.”

NDSQ is presently building two 71.5 metre fast diving vessels. These modern high-speed vessels are fully equipped to support offshore diving operations, including a decompression chamber. The vessels are fitted with four main engines, bow thrusters and dynamic positioning. A luxury accommodation will be installed for guests, divers and crew. The latest in navigation and communication equipment will be installed.

The second edition of the Qatar International Boat Show recently ran from 11^th to 15th November 2014, featuring over 70 boats during the week-long event.

For more information visit Nakilat Damen Shipyards (NDSQ)