Oman Drydock Company : GETTING TO DUQM

Wilayat Ad Duqm is located in the south eastern corner of Al Wusta, neighbouring the Wilayat of Mahut in the north, the Wilayat of Jazur in the south, the Wilayat of Haima in the west and in the east the Arabian Sea.

Photo Courtesy of Oman Drydock Company S.A.O.C.

Approximately, Duqm is 590 kilometers [366 miles] from Muscat and 580 kilometers [360 miles] from Salalah.

DUQM CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL TO BE READY BY JUNE 2012

[Source: MUSCATDAILY.COM] Crowne Plaza Duqm, the first four-star hotel being built in the Duqm area, will be ready for operations by the end of June 2012, while the two-star City Hotel will be ready by the end of February 2012, according to a member of Duqm Steering Committee.

Saleh Hamood al Hasni, a member of Duqm Steering Committee who is responsible for investors services relations, told Muscat Daily that the four-star Crowne Plaza hotel will have 240 rooms including executive suites and family halls, while the two-star City Hotel will be of 140 rooms small hotel in Duqm.

“The City Hotel is expected to be ready by February 2012, while Crowne Plaza hotel by end of June 2012. Apart from these two, there is a tourism area spread in over 18sq km that can be developed to set up more hotels in the Duqm area as demand for hotels will rise in the future.”

Hasni said that the floating hotel, Veronica, which has 200 rooms, is now ready for operations.

Hasni added that Duqm drydock - the Middle East’s second largest drydock - will be officially launched by the end of February 2012. Thirty-five ships have already been repaired at the drydock, which had its soft opening in April this year. The construction of the Duqm port is in progress and the Duqm airport is expected to be ready by 2014.

Source: MUSCATDAILY.COM

Duqm Beach Hotel (Proposed)

Construction of the new Crowne Plaza Duqm Hotel resort in Oman is set to begin soon after the Oman Tourism Development (Omran) invited contractors to submit bids, Meed has reported. The resort, which will be built on the Arabian Sea coast of the Sultanate, will have 228 rooms, including 11 executive suites and six smaller suites.

Project:	Duqm Beach Hotel
Client:	Oman Tourism Development Co . SAOC
Consultants:	Keo InternationalConsultants
Project  Type:	Recreational facilities
Project Duration:	From:  Q4 2010 Estimated
	To:      Q3 2012 Estimated
Status:	Tender for Construction Contract
Scope:	The Duqm Beach Hotel is proposed about 450 km south of
	Muscat on an 180,000 square metres of land adjacent to
	the Indian Ocean. The hotel comprises of 200 rooms, 28
	Chalets, numerous restaurants, health spa, Meeting
	and Banquet Facilities with a potential second phase
	serviced apartments
Schedule:	The main construction contract in not awarded yet.
Remarks:	Tender No. "125/2008"

Duqm port will be ready by 2012

Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki, minister of national economy and deputy chairman of the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council, received in his office yesterday a delegation led by Maria van Der Hoven, Dutch minister of economic affairs.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed investment and trade cooperation between the two countries, the Sultanate government efforts to materialise the goals of Oman Vision 2020 and development plans and programmes.

Macki said that the existing cooperation between Rotterdam Port and Sohar Port has become a model for developing the existing trade and investment cooperation.

While pointing out that the Sultanate strives to increase its investments in infrastructure projects especially in marine, land and air transportation sectors, Macki stated that Al Duqm port will be one of the major projects in the region.

While the project is expected be complete by 2012, the dry dock will be ready by the end this year. The minister of national economy explained that the Sultanate’s investment in air transportation includes the development of Muscat International Airport, Salalah Airport and the construction of a number of domestic airports.

They also include the construction of roads in different regions of the Sultanate. He affirmed that these projects will contribute to developing various sectors of the Omani economy.

Macki stressed that the impact of global financial meltdown in the Sultanate and the region was evident in terms of low oil prices, but such crisis has had no impact on the banking institutions in the country, thanks to the wise monetary and financial policies adopted by the Sultanate's government. The Sultanate has ample liquidity.

Maria van Der Hoven, the Dutch minister of economic affairs, said that the existing cooperation between Sohar port and Rotterdam port is an achievement that stresses the importance of the Sultanate's status as a marine hub in the region.

Source : Oman Drydock
Date: 21 January 2010

Excavations and archaeological studies in Duqm

The Department of Excavations and Archaeological Studies of the Ministry of Heritage and Culture carried out a number of excavations.

For example, excavations carried out in the summer of 2006 on Bahla Fort (the Casbah), revealed four underground chambers beneath the fallen rubble from the original walls of the fort surrounding the site of the excavation. During the latest season, a survey was carried out on a Stone Age site in the Wusta region. The Swiss mission, which began surveying the Huqf and the Duqm areas in the Wusta region in 2007, is aiming to explore the Sultanate’s early Stone Age period on the basis of flint fragments scattered over the site and dating back over 5 thousand years. The survey produced 230 sites.

The Ministry of Heritage and Culture carried out an exploratory dig on the site of Bait Al Maqham Fort in the wilayat of Bausher, which revealed the remains of the walls of a rectangular room with an oven in its centre which is thought to have been used for cooking.

Excerpts from: MIDDLE EAST ONLINE

Contract signing between DSME and Greece's Attica Group

In these days of almost complete stagnation in the newbuilding market, it is refreshing to witness a contract signing being celebrated.

Greece's Attica Group, a subsidiary of the powerful Marfin Investment Group (MIG), has put pen to paper with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering for two fast car-passenger ferries at a total cost of EUR 137m ($192m).

MIG Chairman and strong man Andreas Vgenopoulos, who started out as a shipping lawyer, says he believes there will be other such contracts between the two sides in the future.

The first of the 145-metre monohulls will be delivered in the spring of 2011 and the second in the first quarter of 2012. With a capacity for 2,400 passengers and 450 private vehicles, or 50 freight units and 150 private vehicles, the ships are planned to operate in the Greek domestic market.

The vessels will be the only passenger tonnage currently on Daewoo's orderbook. It is a return to the yard for the Greek group, with Attica chief executive Petros Vettas saying its Blue Star Paros, Blue Star Naxos and Blue Star Ithaki, which were built at Daewoo a few years ago, are the group's most successful vessels.

Source: http://www.omandrydock.com/gnu/bbs/board.php?bo_table=ODC news&wr id=114

Date : 2009-07-03

Oman awards airport contracts

Oman’s transport ministry announced it has awarded more than US$1.5 billion (Dh5.5bn) in airport infrastructure contracts to companies from Turkey, France, Germany and the US.

More contracts are expected this year. Oman is expanding Muscat and Salalah international airports and developing four new regional airports in a multibillion-dollar project to stimulate trade and tourism.

The country’s flag-carrier, Oman Air, is also growing and in 2007 announced a deal to buy five new Airbus wide-bodied A330s, scheduled for delivery within the next two years.

Most of the deals announced this week involved construction work, but smaller contracts included a radar system, a new meteorological station and two camel racecourses. TAV Insaat of Turkey and an international consortium called Consolidated Contractors Company of Oman formed a partnership for the largest contract award, for works at Muscat International Airport worth 450 million rials (Dh4.29bn).

Also at Muscat airport, Boskalis Westminster, based in The Netherlands, received an 18.2m rial deal for dredging works and soil reclamation. The German construction firm Strabag was awarded a contract through its local subsidiary to build Sohar Airport, in the Al Batinah region, in a deal worth 37.5m rials.

The airport will cater for up to 50,000 passengers in the first phase and up to 500,000 passengers in later phases. It will be situated close to the country’s newest industrial zone, where a reported $12bn has been invested in a new port, free zone and pipeline network.

Sohar and the other domestic airports will include runways measuring 4km long and 75 metres wide.

Abdul Rahim al Harami, the director general of air navigation at the ministry of transport, said the construction works for Muscat airport and the smaller centres should be finished by 2012, according to local media reports.

The airports are all expected to begin operations at the start of 2013.
The smaller airports are expected to draw tourists from Europe, the UAE and elsewhere into the country’s undeveloped hinterland.

Last year, the sultanate received 650,000 tourists, including many on chartered tours from Europe, and it has outlined broad goals to greatly increase that number in coming years.

Another of the smaller airports will be in Adam, south-west of Muscat, to be built by Strabag in a deal worth 3.6m rials. An international consortium called Desert Line Projects was chosen in a 23.4m rial deal to build Al Duqm Airport in the Al Wusta region.

Al Duqm Airport, which will be the country’s third international airport, carries an estimated cost of between $100m and $200m. Oman is to inject vast sums of money into the Duqm region, with new hotels, resorts and public beaches planned.

The region will also one day be home to a large industrial and free-trade zone that will house a refinery, petrochemical complex, fisheries facilities and port complex.Other winners this week included US-based Raytheon for a contract worth 4.9m rials to design, supply and operate a radar system at Muscat airport.

ADPI of France will act as the project manager for the construction of the regional airports, while the Danish firm COWI was previously hired to serve as project engineer, in collaboration with Larsen Architects. Local media also reported the Omani government signed a deal with a firm called the European Organisation for Satellite Investment to jointly develop the country’s meteorology services.

Further announcements were expected to include contracts for the planned regional airport at the coastal city of Ras al Hadd, several hundred kilometres south of Muscat.
Mr al Harami added that the Muscat deals included work to build a network of roads into and inside the airport.

Source: http://www.thenational.ae/article/20090624/BUSINESS/706249952/-1/ART

Last Updated: June 24. 2009 7:51PM UAE / June 24. 2009 3:51PM GMT

Oman to go ahead with first coal-fired power plant

Muscat: Oman on Monday began the process of selecting a team of project advisers to assist the government in the development of the country's first coal-fired power plant.

The move is seen as an affirmation of the government's determination to press ahead with the project despite doubts expressed in some quarters about the viability of the venture.

Several leading international banks, legal firms, and engineering consultants are vying for contracts to provide financial, technical and legal advisory services to the state-run Oman Power and Water Company (OPWP), which oversees the implementation of all new power projects by competitive tender.

A growing shortfall of natural gas has compelled the government to explore alternative fuels, most notably coal, as a resource for future power generation. OPWP has outlined plans for a 1,000 megawatt-capacity coal-fired Independent Water and Power Project (IWPP) at Duqm in the remote Wusta region of the sultanate.

The project is designed to meet the energy needs of a future industrial and economic hub at Duqm, anchored by a world-scale port and dry-dock complex. Duqm is also tipped to host a major free trade area and tourism zone, among other mega economic developments.

Oman's Supreme Committee for Town Planning has already earmarked a 271-hectare site just north of the Duqm port for the development of the IWPP. The IWPP is slated to be operational by 2015.

Source: http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Industry/10327516.html .Published: June 30, 2009, 22:51

Mr. Ali Aljunibi.. in Duqm

Here are some photos of the very friendlyMr. Ali Aljunibi,Administration Officer of DSME, Construction of Drydock and Ship Repair
Yard in Duqm project.

... with her beautiful daughter

...just spending a leisure time

... at the internet desk

... at his office desk

Engr. JV Valero.. in Duqm

One of our elder brothers here in Duqm, Engr. JV is already a Middle East Veteran having witnessed major events in the region since 1980.

Engr. Ehd Arabe.. in Duqm

Engr. Gilbert Cencil.. in Duqm

Homesick in Duqm.. how to overcome it?

One of the most common problems that an expatriate will encounter is homsickness. Being away from your family is not an ordinary challenge. Yet, most expatriates bravely faced this challenge.

However, the situation in Duqm is very different from the places I've to. I worked for 2 years in Jubail, Kingdom and Saudi Arabia (my first job assignment overseas) and 3 years in Doha, Qatar, but I never experienced the things I did in Duqm.

Duqm is only blossoming into being a progressive town. An expatriate would work doubly hard to overcome homesickness as there are barely places that would offer recreational activities. It is one of the personal duties of an expatriate to look for a way to survive.

Here are some tips how to overcome homesickness in Duqm.

• Engage yourself in sports. Sports is one of the most effective way to forget your worries. Basketball, volleyball and cricket can be played during free hours. Bodybuilding is best fitted if you do not like the preesure of body contact in team games. You should be creative enough to use improvise gadgets to be used in bodybuilding as gym equipments (i.e. dumbells, barbells, etc.) are not available in in the nearby stores.

• Make friends. Eventhough you are not in a place like Duqm, you should always make friends. Filipino, Indian, Korean, Pakistan, Omani.. whatever your nationality is.. you should always be friendly to everyone. Friends are always an effective past time. Don't forget to always wear a smile on your face. Everybody will love you.

(To be continued...)

Engr. Dex Listanco.. in Duqm

Engr. Edwin Pagdanganan.. in Duqm

Engr. Jeffrey R. Guttierez.. in Duqm

Rattlesnakes.. in Duqm [?]

If you enjoy the desert wilds during the colder months, these photos will serve as a precaution. These photos were allegedly taken [authenticity remains unconfirmed] at the site where the on-going construction of the Duqm Airport is located.

The place is very beautiful, but you have to take extra care when you are in the area. The rattle snakes are supposed to expose themselves to the sun during winter.

IMPORTANT : PHOTOS BELOW, UNTIL CONFIRMED FROM THE SOURCE,  WILL REMAIN AS AN ILLUSTRATION OF THE POSSIBILITY OF THE OCCURRENCE OF RATTLESNAKES OR ANY OF ITS KIND IN THE LOCALITY OF DUQM. STILL, THERE'S NOTHING TO LOOSE IF WE APPLY EXTRA PRECAUTION WHEN GOING TO "UNSAFE" PLACES.

Duqm.. A Breathtaking Development.. (Part 6)

Source : (https://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20070807123219/Al%20Duqm%20Breathtaking%20Development)

Residential Town Area

There will be 17 residential quarters in place to accommodate a population of 64,000 in a span of next 20 years. There is a provision for further expansion of the town comprising about 2,530 hectares to 111,000 residents. The first phase of the town will see an investment of RO110 million. Each of these 17 quarters is a 1kmx800m rectangular block. Each quarter accommodates on an average about 4,750 residents. It will have an average of about more than 500 plots as parcel. More than 90 per cent of these plots would be allotted for individual villas with three categories of housing. Only 10 per cent of the plots are multi family housing with five storied apartments. All social and recreational facilities are being designed within each of these quarters.

About four quarters, along with local centres, should be available by 2011. The local centre shall contain the following facilities: Kindergarten, health centre (optional), a mosque, community recreational centre, children's play area, private school/training centre, post office (optional), shops and a petrol filling station (optional). The town will also have three district centres. Main components of the district centre will be grouped around a main square. Main attraction of the town would be the composite Town Centre, which would act as the multipurpose central business centre of the city. The first phase of the Town Centre, to come up on a spread of 172 hectares, will be ready by 2011. It comprises retail shops, restaurants, government and private offices, business centre, recreation facilities, cinema halls, shopping malls, traditional souq, hotels, regional police headquarters, town mosque and regional and the town bus terminals. There shall be adequate parking facilities for major land uses, including public parking areas.

Apart from these, there will be a large Town Park over a 119-hectare area. It would have city's sports centre along with a large stadium. One private investor has shown interest in putting up a labour camp and a residential accommodation for junior and mid level officials. An integrated large business centre in the main Town Centre of Duqm is also planned with an estimated investment of RO300 million. Though there is already a talk of booming real estate in the area, a Muscat based real estate agent clarified that the government had banned all buying and selling of properties in the area as too much speculation about the new mega projects might lead to price escalation. "We have this experience of Sohar, where biggies bought the land and sold at higher prices. Probably to avoid this, the government wants to keep the real estate prices in check. Moreover, the government itself wants to be part of overall development of Duqm," says the agent.

Back to Duqm.. A Breathtaking Development.. (Part 1)

Duqm.. A Breathtaking Development.. (Part 5)

Source : (https://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20070807123219/Al%20Duqm%20Breathtaking%20Development)

Tourism Projects

A provision of 2,422 hectares has been made for tourism projects. Incidentally, three plots have already been taken up by the Oman Tourism Development Company (OTDC). KEO International Consultants has been selected to provide consultancy services for Duqm's luxury hotel property. The project will be financed and managed by the Tourism Ministry's investment arm, OTDC.

The new hotel will be set on a 10-hectare plot located about seven kilometres from Duqm town, and not very far from the site of the Duqm Port & Dry Dock complex planned at Ras Duqm. It will feature a 200-room hotel and 25 chalets, and will offer all the facilities and amenities of a modern international-class hotel. Business facilities, conference rooms, retail outlets and a mini golf course will add to the hotel's appeal to visiting businessmen, consultants, contracting executives and investors. The property is expected to open for business in November 2008.

With these kinds of mage projects in the pipeline, even the locals are upbeat. "The construction of Duqm will help in achieving a number of economic and tourism objectives and will be an added value to the services currently provided by Sultan Qaboos Port, Salalah Port and Sohar Port. The construction of the port will also create a considerable number of job opportunities for Omanis in general and Duqm locals in particular. It will also boost fish related industry, which is one of the major sources of GDP and the source of living for a considerable number of families in the region," Sheikh Helal Bin Ali Al Habsi, Wali of Duqm, said.

A number of health facilities and service utilities will be implemented at the wilayat to meet the growing demand for such services especially the area is expected to witness a remarkable boom in a number of industries. These utilities will provide valuable services for both locals and visitors, he furthered.

Overall, Duqm will be first comprehensive planned town of the Sultanate of Oman. All the land use and activities are controlled and regulated. Location of industries and other land uses have been proposed keeping the natural environment in mind. The facilities that would be coming up in this city would be modern, sophisticated and up to date as far as the technology is concerned. Once completely operational, this town would be a force to reckon with in the entire Gulf region. No doubt, then it will be a destination for thousands of people, including the migrants.

See Duqm.. A Breathtaking Development.. (Part 6)

Duqm.. A Breathtaking Development.. (Part 4)

Source : (https://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20070807123219/Al%20Duqm%20Breathtaking%20Development)

Refinery & Petrochemical Complex

Al Wusta region is distinguished for having a great number of oil wells. One of the possibilities could be setting up a space-oriented industry such as oil refinery and storage. Gradual shifting of one of the refinery and export functions from Mina Al Fahal to Duqm is another possible option before the government. The second option gains ground based on the fact that the only oil export terminal of Oman at Al Fahal port has certain disadvantages such as it is surrounded by populated area, offshore area is also busy for commercial shipping activities, oil fields are far away and oil is transported over the mountains, and environmental issues arise from refinery work and marine operations. If these factors are taken into consideration, the future expansion of the oil export at Mina Al Fahal does not look a possibility, and Duqm seems be the right alternative.

Also, the government is in talks with international companies about investing in the proposed refining/petrochemicals complex at Duqm. The project cost is estimated at US$7 billion. The company will be owned by a new JV to be formed in partnership between the government and international investors. The refinery will have a capacity to process 300,000 barrels a day using Oman export blend, a light crude. The oil will be transported to the refinery complex through a new pipeline from the country's northern fields. Diesel output from the refinery will be exported, while fuel oil will be sold in the local market, according to an official. The refinery will comprise the world's largest polypropylene plant with a capacity of 1.2 million to 1.5 million tonne/year, a 2.8 million tonne/year aromatics plant and a 750,000 tonne/year styrene plant. Construction of this complex is due to start at the end of 2008 and will be completed in 2012. However, according to the Ministry of Oil & Gas in Oman, everything is at a planning stage and nothing has been finalised yet.

Duqm Airport

A new modern, civil airport is envisaged in the Duqm master plan. The region airport will come up on a span of 2,720 hectares, and will meet the industrial needs of the area. It will also complement the port facilities in the town. The government has recently asked US engineering consultancy firm Parsons International to advise it on the design and construction of this airport. Parsons will also assist the government in preparing tender documents, cost estimation and selecting an EPC contractor for building the airport. The required investment and other details of the airport project will be known only after the consultancy agency conducted a detailed study and design the airport.

Power & Desalination Project

The master plan envisages a mega power station. The first phase of the project, with a capacity of 63MW, will be completed by 2011. The capacity will be scaled up to 200MW during the later phases. The power generation facility will be made up of a number of existing diesel-powered generation plants that are proposed to be dismantled and installed at Duqm from their present locations at Salalah and Sur. Salalah has five such diesel-powered plants, while Sur has four. These were made redundant by the arrival of natural gas-based power generation, which now meets much of the Sultanate's electricity demand. Besides, there's a separate project for the construction of a 6,000 cubic metres per day capacity reverse osmosis (RO) desalination plant. According to officials, 5.6 million gallons water shall be available by year 2011. The Rural Areas Electricity Company (REAC), a subsidiary of the state-owned Electricity Holding CompanyElectricity Holding Company SAOC, is overseeing the development of these projects.

See Duqm.. A Breathtaking Development.. (Part 5)