Nakilat To Double Its Labor Force By 2016

Doha , June 01 (QNA) - Qatar Gas Transport Company Ltd (NAKILAT), will double its labor force to 10,000 employees by 2016, Managing Director Mohammed Ghannam said Saturday. Speaking at a press conference, Ghannam said that increasing the workforce is necessary in order to respond to the needs of the company's clients. He said that the Arhama bin Jaber shipyard was currently operating at 40% of its capacity. He said he is expecting that the shipyard will be a strong driver of the company's profits within the next four to five years. He said that the shipyard cost more than $3 billion that were paid by the State of Qatar. He added that Nakilat and its partners were managing the shipyard. Arhama bin Jaber could provide maintenance to 150 ships a year. It could build 25 ships a year as well. He added that Nakilat will expand into building fiberglass boats by 2015. Last year the fourth and fifth stage of the shipyard were completed; signaling the first steps into building luxury boats. The fifth stage was concerned with repairing small ships. The new shipyard was originally set to provide maintenance to Nakilat's fleet, but the company felt that it would be more in tune with Qatar National Vision 2030 to expand the shipyard's tasks. He said that Nakilat has managed to provide maintenance to more than a 100 ships, 50 of which were LNG vessels. He added that the company was benefiting from the experience of its partners; Dutch Damen has more than 45 shipyards across the globe that provide similar services. Nakilat's profit in 2012 were worth QR 746.5 million. It was Established in 2004 and owns 54 LNG vessels, making it the largest LNG ship owner in the world. (QNA)