ROYAL HASKONING NEWSLETTER > INTERNATIONAL VERSION > MAY 2008

Master plan opens the way for new Red Sea shipyard

The port of Yanbu on the Red Sea coastline of Saudi Arabia is an ideal location to provide ship repair facilities, particularly for those vessels passing through the Suez Canal. To maximise this opportunity, the Floating Dock Company for Shipbuilding and Repairing of Saudi Arabia (FDSCO) is to create a new 21 hectares shipbuilding and repair yard at the port. At the end of last year a master plan for the new yard was completed and as part of this a technical feasibility study was carried out by Royal Haskoning.

"The feasibility study assessed construction options for elements of the shipyard including quays, piers, floating dock, ship lift, repair berths, several major ship repair and shipbuilding workshops and other buildings," explains Les Edwards. "It was required to give a realistic view of what would be possible given the site's ground conditions and other factors. To facilitate this we therefore assisted in the commissioning of initial investigatory works including a soils investigation, topographic land survey and a bathymetric survey."

The Royal Haskoning team used its wide experience and expertise in shipyard engineering in undertaking the feasibility study. The team's commercial experience also came into play when preparing contractual options and cost estimates for the project's civil engineering and building works. In addition, the team has prepared tender documents for an enabling contract in respect of the dredging of some 3 million cubic metres of material, a quarter of which will be used as backfill for the new marine structures.

The Royal Haskoning team's assistance in the preliminary planning and programming of the project led to a recommendation that construction should be split into two phases. This should enable an early handover of the first phase ship repair facilities in 2010.

Contactpersoon: Les Edwards
+44 (0) 1444 458551
l.edwards@royalhaskoning.com

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