Doha: Six Qatari deals covering several fields have been signed on the second day of the 7th Doha International Maritime Defense Exhibition and Conference (DIMDEX 2022).
A letter of intent was signed between Barzan Holdings and BAE Systems to establish a center to provide technical and logistical services for the Umm Al Houl naval base. The deal includes technical services to support and maintain some parts of the Qatari fleet. Accordingly, a feasibility study for the project will be conducted, and implementation will be carried out after agreement and signing the official contract.
Commenting on the deal, Commander of the Qatari Amiri Naval Forces H E Staff Maj. Gen. (Sea) Abdullah bin Hassan Al Sulaiti said the contract includes equipping the Naval Operations Center with the equipment and devices necessary to enter the service, noting that the significance of this deal stems from the importance of the Center which will serve as the eye of the naval command on the naval stage, and all naval tasks will be associated with this Center such as electronic warfare, operations, shooting and others.
Al Sulaiti indicated that the naval fleet maintenance support agreement will authorise Barzan Holdings to carry out maintenance of the second and third lines of marine vessels and port management, because the first line will be the responsibility of the officers and engineers of the Qatari Naval Forces.
He added that the letter of intent aims to localise ship maintenance technology, noting that the Qatari Amiri Navy requires in each agreement the qualification of its personnel, whereby a team from the Amiri Navy is trained and qualified on the terms of the new agreement, whether it includes new technology or other services.
On the agreements and contracts signed on the sidelines of the exhibition, Al Sulaiti affirmed that the Amiri Naval Forces have begun reaping the fruits of the agreements signed in previous versions of DIMDEX, the first of which is the training ship that arrived from the Republic of Turkey, which is the largest training ship in the world with an area of 90 metres and a capacity of 63 recruits. The ship is equipped with a hospital and can travel to the farthest countries with ease.
For his part, Vice-President and Chief Strategic Procurement Officer of Barzan Holdings Abdullah bin Hassan Al Khater said that in addition to Umm Al Houl letter of intent, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with Honeywell to provide spare parts for the F-15 aircraft that are operated in the country.
