Qatar: N-KOM Celebrates Its 200th Vessel at Shipyard

Nakilat-Keppel Offshore & Marine (N-KOM) recently celebrated the completion of its 200th project; repairs for VLCC (Very Large Crude Carrier), Janah Star from Vela International Marine.

The delivery of the vessel coincided with the shipyard’s third anniversary, since its opening in November 2010. Prior to this, N-KOM clinched its second ‘Ship repair/Shipyard’ award last week at the Seatrade Middle East & Indian Subcontinent Awards 2013 ceremony. The facility has also successfully undergone a recertification process by the American Petroleum Institute (API) for its ISO 14001 and ISO 18001 quality systems.

With its comprehensive service offering and excellent infrastructure, the shipyard has made significant progress in capturing the regional maritime market and attracting major oil and gas clients in the Middle East and from around the world.

Eng. Abdullah Fadhalah Al Sulaiti, Chairman of N-KOM and Managing Director of Nakilat said: “We are very proud to celebrate the completion of our 200th project. N-KOM has positioned itself as a leader in ship repair well recognized by the regional maritime industry as a premium shipyard providing a full range comprehensive shipyard services. This milestone in the company’s history reaffirms our growing presence in the Middle East. We would not have been able to build up our capabilities so rapidly if not for the immense support we have received from HE the Minister for Energy and Industry Dr Mohammed Bin Saleh Al Sada. I would also like to express our deepest gratitude to Qatar Petroleum and the management, port staff and employees of Ras Laffan Industrial City for their full and continued support, and the same which we have received from our valued business partners.”

Commenting on these achievements, Mr Abu Bakar Mohd Nor, CEO of N-KOM said, “We would not have been able to achieve so much in this short span of time without the tremendous support from all our partners and stakeholders including our clients, contractors and vendors. We are humbled to be given this opportunity to play a significant role in positioning Qatar’s maritime industry at the region’s forefront, in line with Qatar’s Vision 2030. N-KOM will continue to deliver service excellence to our clients, true to our slogan “Preferred Shipyard, Delivering Solutions”.

Adding on to this, Mr Khalid Alhammad, Technical Manager at Vela International Marine said, “Vela has an excellent relationship with N-KOM, having repaired five VLCCs and a tanker at the shipyard in the past year. We are very satisfied with their quality of services and are equally impressed with the high level of safety upheld at the yard. The award received has certainly been well earned and we look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with N-KOM.”

N-KOM has undertaken drydocking and repairs for gas carriers, tankers, containers and a range of small vessels. The shipyard has also a dedicated Offshore & Onshore divisions catering to the needs of the oil and gas industry, offering repairs and refurbishments for jack-ups, land rigs and pressure vessels. The shipyard is also well poised to take on new-build construction of fixed platform structures and accommodation barges (liftboats).