Saudi Aramco has partnered with Lamprel, the National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), and Hyundai Heavy Industries to develop a maritime yard in Saudi Arabia.
The companies signed a joint venture (JV) partnership to establish, develop and operate the maritime yard, with an expected investment of around $5.2bn.
Around $3.5bn of the total cost of the project will be provided by the Saudi Arabian Government, which will be used to establish, prepare and build the site and shared infrastructure, while the remaining $1.7bn will be funded by the JV partners.
Lamprell will invest around $140m during the construction of the project, while Saudi Aramco will invest about $350m in the project. Bahri is expected to invest around $139m and Hyundai will invest up to $70m in the project.
The new shipyard complex is being developed as the anchor project within the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services situated in Ras Al-Khair, near the Jubail Industrial City on the Kingdom’s east coast.
The integrated maritime yard will provide Saudi Aramco and its supply chain partners with manufacturing, maintenance, repair and overhaul services for offshore oil and gas rigs, offshore support vessels, and commercial vessels such as very large crude carriers (VLCC).
The new facility will hold the potential to manufacture four offshore rigs, over 40 vessels such as 3 VLCCs, in addition to servicing around 260 maritime products per annum.
With initial production operations expected to start in 2019, the facility will achieve the full production capacity by 2022.
With four main production zones, the maritime yard is expected to have an area of about 4.3km² along the coast of Ras Al-Khair.
Image: Saudi Aramco, Bahri and Hyundai Heavy Industries signed a shareholder agreement to build maritime yard in Saudi Arabia. Photo: courtesy of Saudi Arabian Oil Co.