Nakilat Damen Shipyards, Qatar

Qatari-owned marine company Nakilat provides the critical transportation link in the State of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply chain, oversees the activities of the country’s shipyard and provides services to vessels in Qatari waters.

Nakilat Damen Shipyards is an integral component of the supply chain of some of the largest, most advanced energy projects in the world undertaken by Qatar Petroleum, Qatargas, RasGas and their joint venture partners for the state.

The fourth phase of the construction project for the shipyard consisted of three buildings; the construction hall, the depot and the assembly building.

With its capability to roll the long spans that were required on the project, Metsec not only delivered 15 metre clear span sections, but was able to provide full design support throughout the 12-month project, even altering operational hours in the UK to accommodate the time difference in Qatar.

Part of Metsec’s design offering was undertaking the structural calculations for the project. This meant the project could be value-engineered which reduced the sections sizes required on the project without compromising on strength or performance.

Originally designed using Metsec’s heavy end bay system, with the 342Z25 section in the end bays and the 342Z23 in the internal bays, Metsec’s design team reviewed the project design and advised that the specification was overdesigned.

As a result, the Metsec team value engineered the project, designing a bespoke 342Z20 section for the internal bays, and the 342Z30 section for the end bays. This value engineering resulted in a 15% reduction in the weight of the roof, giving the client a more cost effective solution.

In total, Metsec provided more than 1,000 tonnes of steel to the project, the largest project for the Purlins division to-date.

Rob Marsh, commercial and technical manager for Metsec Middle East, said: “We pride ourselves in delivering high quality, engineered solutions to our customers and at the most cost-efficient price possible.

“Due to the nature of the project, we designed bespoke sections for the client and were able to provide cost savings by reducing the overall section sizes used. By being able to offer both bespoke products and our comprehensive design services, clients are accessing a broad range of benefits, not just our heritage of quality and customer service.

“Nakilat Damen Shipyard is the largest purlins project Metsec has undertaken and involved a lot of intensive design work to ensure the sections could accommodate the long spans and to deliver on time and in full to the client.

“On the success of this project, Metsec was then awarded the next phase of the project, a superyacht facility.”

As a result of creating the bespoke section, Metsec introduced it as a standard section, and rolled out several additional standards to broaden the range of its offering. Metsec has gone on to supply a number of notable projects in the regions including Abu Dhabi airport and Warner Brothers theme park on Yas Island.

Take a look at Metsec’s Purlins and Side Rails Systems