The Duqm Naval Dockyard - A Naval Yard for Oman

The creation of the Duqm Naval Dockyard (DND) Joint Venture between Babcock International Group and the Oman Drydock Company (ODC) in November 2016 was quickly followed by company incorporation in June 2017. DND combines the well-honed skill sets of ODC and Babcock to establish a focussed warship repair and maintenance facility within the broader commercial Port of Duqm. The latter serves as a secure logistics and supply hub in a deep water port adjacent to the dockyard. Thus, in one location, Duqm provides the facilities of both a naval base and a naval dockyard. This combination has been successfully tested through a number of contracts to date, and the UK-Omani bilateral defence exercise, Saif Sareea, in the autumn of 2018, successfully tested the UK’s concept of ‘Defence Hub Duqm’. In the last 6 months, both the UK , and the US Governments have signed Defence and Strategic agreements with the Sultanate which specifically mention the importance of a repair and logistics hub at Duqm. The dockyard has state of the art infrastructure, with two graving docks capable of docking Ultra Large Crude Carriers and Warships. Since June 2017, DND has completed a number of successful and complex repairs on warships and auxiliaries from both the USN and the RN, including the complex drydocking and repair of a US Military Sealift Command aluminium catamaran. DND is now being looked at by a number of navies as an ideal maintenance and repair hub for their operations in the Middle East and beyond. A deep-water, purpose built facility, Duqm sits astride the ‘Global Energy Interstate’ of the Indian Ocean and Gulf. Ships utilising Duqm can access the Straits of Hormuz, the Bab El Mendaab and Gulf of Aden, and the East African seaboard with ease. Equally, ships at Duqm have easy access to the Gulf of Arabia without being tied to maintenance and repair facilities within the Gulf itself. The location of the port also offers unrivalled force protection and security for visiting warships. Looking ahead, the intention for both ODC and DND is to embark on a shipbuilding programme at the repair yard, to include the construction of offshore support vessels and warships. This will be the first such facility in the Sultanate, and aligns with the latter’s Five Pillars of Economic Diversification , in which Duqm (and SEZAD) will play such an important part.