UK-Korean JV bags design contract for Saudi Ras Al-Khair shipyard

A joint venture of UK’s Royal HaskoningDHV and South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction has won a contract to carry out front-end engineering design (FEED) for a Saudi maritime yard, set to be the world’s largest on completion, according to a company statement on Tuesday.

The maritime yard in Ras Al-Khair will comprise a distinct shipyard facility for large shipbuilding, large ship repair, offshore rigs fabrication, and offshore support vessel repair. The facility will be located north of Jubail on the Arabian Gulf.

The statement didn’t give a value for the contract.

The FEED development work is scheduled to take five months, the statement said, adding that the initial market study for the yard was undertaken by Royal HaskoningDHV in 2014.

In May, Saudi Arabian Oil Co.’s (Saudi Aramco) chief executive Amin Nasser had said the Ras Al Khair ship repair and fabrication complex will be fully operational by 2021.

The complex, which will make oil rigs and tankers, is projected to reduce Saudi imports by $12 billion, while increasing the country's gross domestic product by $17 billion and adding 80,000 jobs.