Trelleborg Supplies Largest Fender for New Port Project in Qatar

Trelleborg Marine Systems, part of Trelleborg Engineered Systems, has been awarded the contract to supply the largest marine fender solution project in history for the state-of-the-art New Port Project (NPP) in Qatar.

After five years spent working closely with the construction company, Trelleborg has secured the $24.5 million (€19.5million) contract, which is the biggest ever order for fender solutions in both quantity and value. The deal is approximately three times larger than any other marine fender contract previously placed and is due for delivery commencing at the end of 2012 and completion in early 2015. The $7.1billion (€5.8billion) value port project is currently the world’s largest greenfield port-development project.

Paul Welling, Regional Director at Trelleborg Marine Systems, says of the project: “We were delighted to be awarded the contract to work on the New Port Project, not only because we have the opportunity to apply our unique solutions to bring efficiencies to a world class Port but also because of the sheer scale and prestigious nature of the project itself.”

Richard Hepworth, President of Trelleborg Marine Systems, says: “We expect this type of project – requiring in-depth engineering and application know-how and total fender solutions, including a large number of large fenders – to become more prevalent due to the increase in vessel sizes and traffic coming through major ports. It requires a global partner that can provide bespoke solutions to be able to cater for this type of project.”

Trelleborg will supply the New Port Project with 829 fender systems, including 557 super cone fenders for the port’s marine services terminal, container terminals (one is part of phase one, and two further terminals ready for future development), flour mill and main vehicle terminal. Each of the container terminals at the new Doha Port will have the capacity to accommodate the world’s largest container vessels.

139 ANP Arch rubber fender systems will also be supplied for the port marine services terminal and the vehicle terminal ro-ro ramp. 111 UE-V 250 X 3000 rubber fender systems are to be installed in the coast guard terminal, and finally, 22 SeaGuard foam filled fenders for a future terminal.

Trelleborg will also supply bollards and ladders for the New Port. 606 Trelleborg bollards will be supplied for the port marine services terminal, the three container terminals, the flour mills terminal, the vehicle terminal, the livestock terminal, the offshore supply base terminal, the coast guard terminal, the general cargo terminal and the cruise terminal.

This massive project will be handled by a dedicated project management team within Trelleborg, which will be based in Dubai. Technical support will be provided by Trelleborg’s recently expanded Design Centre of Excellence in India.

Trelleborg worked closely with the contractor to ensure a full service, bespoke solution for the port, which is being built to cater for Qatar’s economic development and to facilitate operations from the existing Doha Port, which is reaching its maximum throughput capacity.

The 70 million cubic metres of material that will be rockblasted and excavated will be repurposed, transferred by almost 500 dump trucks currently working on the site, and used as hardstand across the rest of the development, raising the level of the land by 4.5 metres.

Trelleborg’s proposal for the fendering systems, bollards and ladders was aligned to a demanding specification and meets the approval of NPP and their engineering consultants. The systems supplied by Trelleborg will meet the PIANC 2002 “Guidelines for the Design of Fender Systems” and will undergo robust performance testing prior to installation.

The fendering systems, bollards and ladders supplied were required to overcome the aggressive environmental conditions at the New Port. These demanding environmental factors included high salinity levels, and high temperatures so equipment required heat and UV protection. The systems supplied by Trelleborg will be installed at locations covering the entirety of the port’s 8.5 kilometres of new quay wall.

The scale of this project, which currently requires around 2,500 people working on site, also meant it was important for the contractor to work with one partner that could meet the needs of the whole port, to cut down complexity and make certain a holistic solution was provided.

The New Port is expected to come into operation in Q1 2016, with operations from the existing port being progressively transferred as the new facilities become available.