King Abdulaziz Port to repair offshore rigs

JEDDAH — The King Abdulaziz Port in the Eastern Province can now repair offshore drilling rigs, and is encouraging rig operators who used to send rigs overseas for repairs or overhauls to have the job done in the Kingdom

By From Our Correspondent

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Published: Sun 13 Aug 2006, 10:29 AM

Last updated: Sat 4 Apr 2015, 2:11 PM

"Repairs of drilling rigs have been a problem for local operators who spent a lot of money to have their rigs towed and repaired in neighbouring ship repair yards like those in Bahrain. Now we have the facilities and capabilities right here," said Hassan Abouraya, a consultant on marine business development for Zamil Shipyard, which has expanded the port's capacity to include offshore rigs.

"With our ability to repair offshore drilling rigs, the Kingdom will be attracting other rig operators in the region. Offshore rigs operating in Saudi oil fields and neighbouring Gulf countries will be saving time and money by using our repair facilities," said Zamil Al-Zamil, president of the Zamil Operations and Maintenance Company (Zomco), owner of the Zamil Shipyard.

Zamil undertook the first repair of the 6,000-tonne offshore drilling rig ENSCO 96 last month, which is currently leased out to Saudi Aramco. The shallow-water rig can only operate in depths of up to 250 feet. The offshore drilling rig was towed from its anchorage location at Ras Tanura to the Dammam Port by Zamil Saudi pilots, who also did the piloting job for the first time, and berthed it at the Zamil shipyard facility.


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