Abu Dhabi Ports, the master developer, operator and manager of the emirate’s ports and Khalifa Industrial Zone, has today announced a major expansion plan for its Khalifa Port.

The expansion at the port, one of the world’s fastest growing container, bulk cargo and roll-on roll-off vehicle transport ports, will add 1,000 m of quay wall to the port and deepen its main channel and basin to 18 m from the current 16 m. The new quay wall will add an additional 600,000 sq m for cargo handling.

These measures will ensure the port can accommodate anticipated growth in the short to medium term and handle the world’s largest ships, increasing the competiveness of the emirate as a logistics and maritime hub while also serving key industries across the UAE.

Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, CEO of Abu Dhabi Ports, said: “This ambitious expansion is crucial to ensuring Abu Dhabi remains a global trade and investment hub as well as supporting our local industries. Building on recent growth at Khalifa Port, we are future proofing our operations to ensure we can continue to attract the world’s leading operators to use our world-class facilities that will see Capesize vessels, the largest in the cargo industry, come directly into an Abu Dhabi port for the very first time.

“Over the past few years we have invested in building an integrated, technology enabled platform and physical infrastructure for our customers to become an enabler for key business sectors in line with the Abu Dhabi Plan and Vision 2030. Today sees us take this to the next level as a maritime centre and as the gateway to the world’s fastest growing economies,” he added.

A first step in delivering this plan has been the signing of a contract with the National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC) which will start preparatory work on dredging the channels and using this material to build up the new 1,000-m-long quay wall and the adjacent yard behind it. About 250 workers will be involved in the expansion project work, which is scheduled for completion in mid-2018.

Engineer Yaser Zaghlool, CEO of NMDC, said: “We see Abu Dhabi Ports as a strategic partner with the important role of actively enhancing the UAE maritime sector. We will build upon that by providing our services while maintaining the highest standards through the employment of a specialised and experienced workforce." - - TradeArabia News Service