Because of the dramatic rise in the export of LNG and other gas products from Qatar, a major development of Ras Laffan LNG port was needed to make it the largest manmade harbour in the world. The expansion was to involve 20 kilometres of breakwaters and 15 million cubic metres of dredging to accommodate more than 30 ship berths.

Beckett Rankine was responsible for preparing a Masterplan to cover the entirety of the construction of the port. This included selection of an appropriate site. Various hydrodynamic model studies were used to consider the waves, currents, and siltation as well as vessel simulation.

The total annual throughput of the port was planned to be more than 250 million tonnes. Timeframe for the construction of the port is tight, as oil majors have started to build plants in the area. These include LNG trains and gas-to-liquids plant. A ship repair yard and back-up infrastructure were also planned.