US contractor McDermott has taken a step further towards boosting its fabrication capacity in Saudi Arabia with the award to a mystery player for the construction of the Saudi Arabia Fabrication In-Kingdom Ras Al-Khair (Safira) fabrication yard.

McDermott earlier said that this new facility, which will be spread across 1.2 million square metres, would have expected peak capacity of 60,000 tonnes per annum.

The project - located at the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services - id another step to support Saudi Arabia's Saudi Vision 2030 and increase local content, noted the contractor.

McDermott will oversee construction of the facility, which will be performed by an unnamed subcontractor. Once complete, the Safira development will have the capability to fabricate and assemble the offshore platforms, jackets and structures for subsea pipelines required to support state-owned Saudi Aramco's planned offshore projects.

"This fabrication facility will further enhance McDermott's in-Kingdom project delivery capability and support our growing Saudi-based project management team, engineering and procurement offices, and ongoing recruitment and development of talented Saudi nationals at all levels in the company," said Mike Sutherland, McDermott's vice president, offshore operations.

McDermott is a key member of Saudi Aramco’s prestigious long term agreement (LTA) programme of international offshore contractors and is already handling multiple offshore maintenance and greenfield projects in the kingdom.

The new Safira fabrication yard will play a key role in the contractor’s push for Saudi Arabia’s In-Kingdom Total Value Add (IKTVA) localisation programme, which aims to substantially increase the volume of local content in onshore and offshore projects over the next decade.