Houston, Texas - The Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry H E Abdulla bin Hamad Al Attiyah, received recently a scholarship commitment, presented by the ABS Class Society in support of Qatar's maritime initiatives, in Houston, Texas.
The scholarship was presented to Al Attiyah by ABS Chairman and CEO Robert D Somerville.
Founded in 1862, ABS is a leading international classification society devoted to promoting the security of life, property and the marine environment through the development and verification of standards for the design, construction and operational maintenance of marine-related facilities.
Al Attiyah was in the United States to attend meetings in Washington, DC and the US-Arab Economic Forum in Houston.
Al Attiyah talked with Somerville about Qatar's plans to become established as an international maritime center. Topics included the future needs of the State for LNG, LPG and bulk carriers for its export trades and its desire to establish a major new ship repair facility in the country.
Somerville pledged ABS support for the Minister's long held dream of constructing an LNG ship in a Qatari shipyard within the foreseeable future.
The annual scholarship established by ABS is part of a comprehensive programme offered to support Qatar's maritime ambitions. It is intended to assist selected Qatari citizens to undergo academic and practical training in maritime related disciplines. Recipients of the Scholarships will be offered internships with ABS during their period of study as an essential element of the programme.
This aspect will allow the students to gain practical exposure to the day to day activities of a leading class society in areas that best fit their professional interest. These may range from technical research into ship design issues, to the review of new ship designs, to in-field mentoring in survey operations or in the auditing of vessels to the management system requirements of the ISM and ISPS Codes.
Training programme
Other ABS initiatives include a separate technical training programme for Qatar Gas personnel in LNG carrier design, construction, maintenance and in-service surveys. The training program will be conducted by veteran ABS surveyors and engineers with extensive LNG experience.
"There is no doubt that Qatar will rapidly expand its maritime industry and its maritime influence within the Middle East region," said Somerville.
"It is clear that the Government is committed to supporting this strategy and that it has the will and the resources needed to realize these plans. It is important that Qatari citizens gain the necessary maritime skills and experience that will be required. ABS is pleased to be able to enter into this long term relationship with the State to assist the future maritime leaders of Qatar to gain the needed training and experience."
The scholarships and associated technical training that will be undertaken by ABS further underpin its long standing involvement in the Middle East and growing activity within Qatar.
The class society's Middle East regional administrative headquarters relocated to Doha, Qatar in late 2004 in recognition of Qatar's emergence as an international center of maritime activity. ABS now administers its operations in 19 countries from the Doha office.
ABS has been providing classification services to Qatari flag vessels and offshore rigs for more than 30 years. It classed the first jackup offshore exploration drilling unit built for Qatar Petroleum Company, the Dana, which entered service off Qatar in July 1976. The rig, now named Noble Chuck Syring continues in service in the waters of Qatar helping to monetize the State's energy resources.
Overall, ABS currently classes 34 per cent of all vessels and offshore units operated by Qatari owners and 90 per cent of all the mobile offshore exploration units currently operating in Qatari waters.
It also has a significant share of the class contracts for the LNG carriers that are either now in service or are being built for the Qatar export trade.
"ABS is committed to supporting the Government of Qatar in the areas of training and of ship construction, repair and operation, as Qatar further develops its maritime center," Somerville stressed.
© The Peninsula 2006
