Board of Directors Report
On behalf of Nakilat’s Board of Directors, I am pleased to introduce Nakilat’s 2021 Annual Report.
During the past year, the world continued to face exceptional adversity in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic, one that has reshaped our view of normal and posed unprecedented challenges to the global shipping and maritime industry. The passion and strength of our people shone through these difficult times. Nakilat remained resilient in continuing to build on our operational response to the pandemic, enabling us to adapt swiftly and ensure business continuity to create value for our shareholders and customers.
With a solid foundation in place, Nakilat has been steadfast in steering forward our vision to be the global leader in LNG transportation, whilst contributing towards the development of Qatar’s shipping and maritime industry. The company stayed committed to achieving its vision and delivered many notable accomplishments during this challenging year.
Nakilat delivered clean energy to worldwide destinations without any interruptions, upholding our commitment to operational excellence and customer satisfaction. We followed through our expansion plans with the addition of two technologically advanced LNG carrier newbuilds this year, demonstrating our unflinching commitment to innovation, sustainability, and operational excellence. This will allow us to provide greater fleet capacity and flexibility to our customers and give us a significant competitive advantage in the energy transportation sector. Moreover, it contributes to our efforts to reduce our carbon footprint and operate sustainably as we grow our international shipping portfolio.
With a fleet strength of 74 vessels, Nakilat is one of the largest energy shipping companies. Our fleet comprises 69 LNG carriers, four large LPG carriers and one Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU). Through our in-house ship management, Nakilat oversees the operations of 29 vessels, 24 LNG, four LPG carriers and one FSRU. The majority of Nakilat’s vessels are fixed with long term charters to quality counterparties, hence securing steady and healthy cash flow for the company.
Our local joint ventures at the world-class Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard continue to add strategic value to Nakilat’s operations. Our integrated maritime operations include ship repair, offshore fabrication as well as a range of maritime services, all of which contribute towards developing Qatar as a strategic shipping and maritime hub, in alignment with Qatar National Vision 2030.
Nakilat’s integrated shipping and maritime operations include ship repair, offshore fabrication as well as diverse maritime services, all of which contribute towards developing Qatar as a strategic shipping and maritime hub.
The Board is pleased to highlight achievements of our joint ventures this year:
- N-KOM completed more than 150 repairs for various types of marine vessels and over 27 offshore and industrial engineering projects
- NSW achieved 11 million exposure hours LTI free
- NAC commemorated 16 years of operations, offering 24/7 agency services to 64,000 vessels in 2021 without any service failures and Lost Time Incidents (LTIs)
With COVID-19 still prevalent throughout 2021, we continued to take a ‘people first philosophy’ to safeguard our most vital assets – our people. From ensuring a safe workplace to protecting the health of our workforce, we spared no effort in taking all required measures to prevent the spread of the virus and reduce risks to all our employees, contractors and visitors, be it at the office or onboard our vessels.
Climate change was a topic of much discussion in the industry this year and one that resonates with Nakilat’s mission to protect the environment we operate in. Part of good governance entails transparent reporting, and this year, we were pleased to launch our inaugural Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Report. The report highlights our continuous commitment and vision to enable sustainable growth in communities around the world.
Our business continuity preparedness was proven for another year yet, with our ability to remotely work from home while delivering the same level of business excellence. Looking ahead, Nakilat’s Board of Directors is committed towards upholding and implementing the highest standards of corporate governance as well as robust risk management, business continuity preparedness, and various internal measures throughout the organization. These integral components will further support the company’s sustainable business growth, uphold our employees’ wellbeing, and reinforce investors’ confidence in the company.
Despite the unique challenges faced by the company, the Board of Directors commends Nakilat for continuing to deliver robust financial performance and sustained operational excellence in 2021. With significant accomplishments achieved this past year, I am pleased to announce that we have achieved a net profit of QR 1,354 million for the year 2021, a 16.7 % increase as compared to QR 1,161 million in 2020. As such, Nakilat’s Board of Directors is pleased to recommend the General Assembly to distribute cash dividends equivalent to ‘0.12 Qatari Riyal’ per share for the year 2021.
Nakilat’s Board of Directors would like to express its gratitude to HH Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of the State of Qatar, and to HH Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Father Emir of the State of Qatar, for their wise leadership and vision that has enabled Nakilat’s growth into a diversified shipping and maritime company that significantly contributes towards the development of Qatar’s maritime as well as oil and gas sector.
The Board of Directors also offers its appreciation to HE Engineer Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy affairs, The President & CEO of QatarEnergy for the ongoing support of Nakilat’s activities, including the Industrial Cities for the extended cooperation with the Erhama Bin Jaber Al Jalahma Shipyard.
We also extend appreciation to our long-term charterer Qatargas for their continued support towards Nakilat’s operations. Finally, we would like to thank Nakilat’s partners, shareholders, management, employees, Qatar Exchange and Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA) for their continued dedication and support.
HE Dr. Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada
Chairman of Nakilat Board
EXPLORE THE ANNUAL REPORT
Corporate Strategy
Corporate Governance
Corporate governance is an ethically driven business process that is committed to values aimed at enhancing an organization’s wealth generating capacity. This is ensured by taking ethical business decisions and conducting business with a firm commitment to values while meeting stakeholders’ expectations. At Nakilat, it is imperative that our company affairs are managed in a fair and transparent manner. This is vital to gain and retain the trust of our stakeholders.
Nakilat is continuously adopting best corporate governance practices, since it is deeply perceived as the heart of the successful running of our organization, while sustaining a long-term growth and promoting trust among the shareholders, investors, customers, employees and all other stakeholders. Nakilat’s corporate governance framework ensures effective engagement with our stakeholders and helps us evolve with changing times. The Board of Directors ensures the implementation of strong corporate governance practices, which safeguards the sustainable development and performance of the company, in accordance with Nakilat’s mission and vision to be a global leader in energy transportation and maritime services.
Our Board of Directors considers the interests of our shareholders as well as our other stakeholders through receiving timely and quality reports that contain condensed information and materials for them to make well-informed decisions and to develop business strategies for short and long-term growth and overall sustainability of the organization. Frequent engagement with our shareholders through our investor conferences, investor meetings, and IR conference calls has sharpened Nakilat’s focus on our core priorities, strategic vision and governance. Nakilat continues to listen to all its shareholders. Nakilat sees governance as a framework to align the interests of all our stakeholders behind its purpose to unlock the power of delivering clean and reliable energy to enhance quality of life for everyone around the world.
Recognizing the relationship between good governance and sound financial performance, Nakilat strives to adhere to leading and best governance practices and complies to Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA) governance guidelines. Nakilat’s corporate governance report has been prepared in compliance with QFMA governance code and is shared with all concerned stakeholders. It is also accessible to all of the company’s stakeholders and shareholders in the Investor Relations section of Nakilat’s website.
Sustainability at Nakilat
Nakilat and its joint ventures (JVs) are committed to Qatar National Vision 2030, which outlines the development of a sustainable future for the State of Qatar. As an organization, we conduct various safety and internal development programs to ensure the creation of a safe and reliable workforce, while our robust corporate social responsibility (CSR) framework aims to enrich the lives of local communities and preserve our natural environment.
Our sustainability commitment comprises several key elements, and among our highlights this year include:
Safety Excellence
COVID-19 PREVENTIVE MEASURES
- Ensured smooth operations while allowing phased introduction of staff working from office and finally reached 100 % during the last Quarter of 2021 in accordance with COVID-19 governmental guidelines.
- Regular employee communications continued throughout 2021 as well on the latest COVID-19 guidelines and precautionary measures.
- Temperature screening for all employees, contractors and visitors across all our facilities (HQ, shipyard, Employee accommodation, onboard the vessels) continued for most part of the year.
- Face-to-face meetings restriction, encouraging employees to conduct virtual online meetings.
- Provision of necessary PPEs and adequate supplies of hand sanitizers are made available at all our working sites.
- Employee health declaration for all employees and contractors, including pre-embarkation for all seafarers.
- Contact tracing of positive cases and isolation of suspected cases; immediate liaising with Communicable Disease Center (CDC) for conducting COVID-19 tests for all suspected cases.
- Reinforce social distancing at all times; be it queuing during mealtimes, boarding transportation, or whilst on the transportation.
Human Capital & Capability Development
Professional and personal development of our most strategically important assets, our employees, remained in sharp focus during 2021. Nakilat continued to utilize our blended learning approach with the delivery of 97% of the training programs virtually. This is in response to the challenges posed by COVID-19, which restricted the utilization of in-person training sessions to critical safety courses only. This new strategy has significantly improved the efficiency of the training delivery model which gives more flexibility to our staff to complete training at times and locations convenient to them.
7,437 hours of training content was delivered by subject matter experts from external training consultancies as well as internal employees across all divisions.
We successfully extended our internal knowledge sharing program (NICE) with 35 sessions being conducted. A new Learning Academy was successfully launched in 2021 in partnership with LinkedIn Learning, providing over 10,000 courses and materials to staff supporting their competence development. New areas for Masterclasses and TED Talks have also been added, including enhanced learner reporting and metrics.
Nakilat continued to support the development of Nationals with its ICON21 Coaching program, comprising 63 hours of one-to-one performance coaching delivered to 8 young Qatari Nationals, as well as the creation of comprehensive Competence Development Plans for Nationals having completed the Career Development Center. In addition, a new dedicated training program on Personal Effectiveness in partnership with FranklinCovey Inc. was launched. The course provides 10 dedicated programs to Nationals to enhance their behavioural and professional competences, all of which are aligned to support their career goals and our Qatarization strategy. Over 255 courses have been delivered virtually during the year, fully utilizing the platforms and technologies at our disposal to ensure continued development of our employees.
In 2021, we continued our focus on developing the next level of leaders in our business through our succession planning process, which culminated in an agreed succession plan for 2021 for Nakilat. Facilitated by the creation of bespoke development plans for each successor, their advancement and growth will be the key focus for 2021, principally with the launch of our extensive and comprehensive Leadership Development Program.
