Room for growth at Saudi’s strategically-placed Dammam Shipyard

The 23 ha site in the King Abdulaziz Port of Dammam offers two floating dry docks - one 215 m long with a 22,000 tonne lifting capacity, and the second 165m long with a 10,000 tonne lifting capacity. These facilities enable the yard to handle most of the vessel types in the Upper Gulf. A fully equipped 600 m linear quay can accommodate up to five jack ups rigs, for repair and refurbishment, or cold stacking.

Following on from a banner year in 2014, approaching a 75% increase in volumes, the company kicked off 2015 with the completion of repainting and refurbishment work on jack-up rig Scooter Yeargain Rig No.55 for the US listed drilling contractor Rowan Drilling, entering the yard in February and put back in service after 26 days.

The rig was the first to enter the yard for 20 years, with the yard normally working on the repair and refurbishment of Dredgers, Anchor Handling Tugs (AHTS) and platform supply vessels (PSVs). The yard provides a number of services - hull maintenance, piping installation, mechanical and electrical services (including HVAC), specialised blasting and painting, including corrosion and passive fire protection, on site machining, and specialized Labour Services, including tank cleaning, demolition & removal.

At the time, Scooter Yeargain rig generated revenues of $200,000 per day, making reducing off-hire time an imperative. “Turnaround times and capabilities must therefore be good,” explains ceo Jason French. “The 26-day turnaround was completed to the highest standards, and clearly demonstrates the capabilities in this field which are now available in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”