New Saudi Arabia Shipyard to be ‘World’s Largest’

Developers of a new shipyard in Saudi Arabia say the facility will be the largest maritime yard in the world providing a range of services, including large shipbuilding, large ship repair, offshore rigs fabrication and offshore support vessel repair.

The new facility, a joint venture between state oil giant Saudi Aramco, the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia, Lamprell and Hyundai Heavy Industries, will be located in the eastern Saudi port of Ras Al-Khair, north of Jubail on the Persian Gulf. It is planned to be fully operational by 2021.

A contract to design the infrastructure for the yard has been awarded to HaskoningDHV UK and Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co., with front-end engineering design work expected to last five months.

The yard will have a range of facilities including seven fully-equipped dry docks, two basins and five piers, a shiplift system, workshops, warehouses, utility services areas, as well as office buildings, living quarters and recreational facilities for more than 10,000 workers.

“This project combines four different yards into a single development, creating significant opportunities for economies of scale and enhancing the country’s economic development,” Adrian Arnold, Project Director at Royal HaskoningDHV.

Saudi Aramco said it expects the complex to produce 80,000 jobs and allow Saudi Arabia to reduce its imports by $12 billion while increasing gross domestic product by $17 billion, Reuters reported.