Port
Ras Laffan Port encloses a water area of about 4,500 hectares and handles LNG and other liquid exports.
Ras Laffan Industrial City lies about 80 km north of Doha and is administered by QatarEnergy. It is Qatar's main site for liquefied natural gas and gas-to-liquids production, so Zone 1 gas areas are widespread across plants and the port. Distribution partners for Ras Laffan Industrial City are being identified ahead of the Q4 2026 launch of the IS-04Z1.
Pre-launch · certification in progress · Launching Q4 2026
Short answer. Ras Laffan Industrial City has no appointed SAMS distributor yet: the IS-04Z1 is pre-launch (certification in progress, no certificate issued, launch planned for Q4 2026), and distributor applications are open.
Current position: certification in progress, nothing issued, launch targeted for Q4 2026. A buyer's engineering review is separate from the certificate. Certification status. Place facts reviewed October 2026.
| Check | What to look for | IS-04Z1 today |
|---|---|---|
| Ex marking | Group, category, protection concept, gas group, temperature class | II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4 (target) |
| Gas group | IIA, IIB or IIC matched to the area drawing | IIC (target) |
| Temperature class | T-class below the ignition temperature of the gas | T4, 135 °C (target) |
| Where it applies | Ras Laffan Industrial City: Refinery process units, Port loading, LNG production trains and storage | Classified by the site operator |

An intrinsically safe Android smartphone designed for Zone 1 and Zone 21 hazardous areas in Ras Laffan. It is pre-launch: IECEx, ATEX and NEC 500 certification is in progress ahead of the Q4 2026 launch.
The companies on site and the hazardous-area types a handset is likely to meet there.
Ras Laffan Port encloses a water area of about 4,500 hectares and handles LNG and other liquid exports.
The industrial city was commissioned in 1996 to host facilities processing gas from the North Field.
Qatargas reported its 10,000th non-LNG shipment through the Ras Laffan terminal in 2019, so the port also handles conventional cargo, not only gas carriers.
Ras Laffan sits at very low elevation on sandy soils about 80 km north of Doha, with a reef off the coast, so the site is flat, exposed and windblown.
The industrial city exists to process gas from the North Field, found in 1971 and described as the world's biggest natural gas field, covering roughly 6,000 square km offshore.
Besides gas and liquids plants, the estate hosts the Ras Laffan A, B and C integrated water and power plants, adding gas-fired utility areas to the process units.
“Ex-proof” is shorthand for equipment carrying an explosion-protection marking (the Ex mark) that matches the area it enters. The marking states the protection concept, gas or dust group and temperature class, and it must be backed by a certificate issued by a recognised body, so a phone described as Ex-proof should come with a certificate number you can check.
The IS-04Z1 is designed to carry the marking II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4. That is a target: certification is in progress, no certificate has been issued, and SAMS will publish the certificate numbers when they exist.
In Ras Laffan Industrial City. Gas processing, LNG trains and refinery process units make Zone 1 the working assumption, and a marking check would read the zone, gas group and temperature class against the operator's drawings. The IS-04Z1 target marking is II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4. Whether IIC is needed on a given area is the operator's call.
Distribution of the IS-04Z1 is by authorised partners only, and SAMS has not yet granted a territory for Ras Laffan Industrial City. Each application is reviewed on its merits. Because opening a certified Ex handset in an ordinary workshop invalidates its certificate, the partner must be able to support and service the device locally.
No. Nothing can be bought or taken into a classified area today: certification is in progress and launch is planned for Q4 2026. What is available now is the datasheet, the written certification schedule and evaluation units for safe-area use.
There is no list price yet. SAMS gives indicative pre-launch pricing in writing, against a stated quantity and site, and does not commit to a lead time before certification completes.
The marking target is II 2 G Ex ib IIC T4. It becomes a marking only when the certificate is issued; until then it is a design target.
Likely candidates are lng production trains and storage, gas processing, gas-to-liquids plants, refinery process units. Which areas are classified, and to what zone, is set by the site operator's own area classification drawings.
Apply through the distributor page with your company details and the territory you cover. SAMS reviews applications company by company and has not yet granted a territory for Ras Laffan Industrial City.
Many use the Ras Laffan Emergency and Safety College, which trains fire, rescue and hazardous-materials teams on a 100-hectare campus. Whether it is required for your visit depends on the plant operator, so ask the operator's HSE team.
The site is low-lying and exposed, so wind-blown sand and dust are common. Look for a sealed handset with a stated dust ingress rating, keep connector covers closed, and clean devices according to the manufacturer's instructions before taking them back into a classified area.
Entry and equipment approval are controlled by QatarEnergy and each plant operator, and contractors go through site induction. A new device would normally need approval from the plant before use in a classified area. Ask the operator for its current process, and expect it to differ between plants.
Related guides for Ras Laffan and for Qatar.
Send the site, zone and gas group and roughly how many handsets. We reply by email with the datasheet and the certification schedule.
Send the zone and gas group of your site and we will reply with the datasheet and schedule.