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QWhen you look at the expanse of your op- erations, what do you count as the pri- mary strength of your company? Nakilat-Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited (N-KOM) is a joint-venture be- tween Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat), the world?s leading transporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and Kep- pel Offshore & Marine, a global leader in ship repair, ship conversion and con- struction of offshore drilling rigs. Having industry leaders as our parent companiesallows us to leverage on each other?s strengths and expertise to ensure that our customers receive quality and timely shipyard services. N-KOM is also strategically located within the integrated Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard complex, nearby LNG and LPG loading terminals at thePort of Ras Laffan, making it an ideal choice for vessels loading at the Port. The numerous containers and tankers plying the Persian Gulf and busy offshore mar- ket in the region further cements N- KOM?s position as a preferred shipyard in the Middle East. Where do you see room for improvement? As a newly established shipyard, N- KOM is constantly looking for ways to improve to meet the expectation of the challenging maritime industry and of ourcustomers. We continuously invest in our people processes and engineering capa-bilities so as to enhance our service of-fering. How is N-KOM investing today, in its fa- cilities?N-KOM is currently undertaking the construction of a Handymax-sized float-ing dock. A second floating dock (Q-max sized) would be administered by Qatar Petroleum as part of the Phase 2A devel- opment plan for the Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard complex. The first has a lifting capacity of 6,500 tonnes whilethe second has a lifting capacity of80,000 tonnes. These assets will help to enhance N-KOM?s flexibility and effi- ciency. N-KOM is set to operate a facility September 2012www.marinelink.com 13About N-KOMEstablished in 2007, Nakilat-Kep- pel Offshore & Marine Limited (N- KOM) was founded from a joint- venture between Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat), the world?s lead- ing transporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and KS Investment Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Keppel Offshore & Marine, the global leader in ship repair, ship conversion and construction of offshore drilling rigs. The world-class Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma shipyard, which is strate- gically located near to the LNG ter- minals in Ras Laffan Industrial City, was inaugurated by H.H. Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, on 23rd No- vember 2010. MR#9 (10-17):MR Template 9/11/2012 1:19 PM Page 13