Gulf Construction Online - New Khalifa Port begins commercial operations

UAE Focus

The Khalifa Port ... most technically advanced port in the region.

New Khalifa Port begins commercial operations

01 October 2012

KHALIFA Port, the new state-of-the-art gateway to Abu Dhabi, commenced commercial operations early last month, ahead of schedule, to specification and below budget, according to a senior official at Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC).

The project, which was earmarked for completion in the fourth quarter of 2012, is open for business and ready to handle two-and-half million containers and 12 million tonnes of general cargo per year, said Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, chairman of ADPC.

Khalifa Port has the first semi-automated container terminal in the region. Together with Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), the port is destined to become one of the most advanced trading hubs in the Middle East.

Khalifa Port’s container terminal swung into commercial action with the unloading of containers from the MSC Bari, one of the largest container ships in the world. The official inauguration of the port will take place by the end of this year.

By the first quarter of 2013 all container traffic will be transferred from the 40-year-old Mina Zayed – which is expected to reach full capacity by the year-end – to Khalifa Port. Mina Zayed will continue to secure new business, handling non-containerised cargo and will focus on handling cruise liners, given its location in the heart of the city and its close proximity to various tourist destinations.

Khalifa Port is designed to be rolled out in phases should market demand require it. The port has been dredged to be deeper than needed to accommodate ever larger ships while its world-class ship-to-shore cranes are among the largest in the world that have been built not only to be able to unload the world’s largest ships today, but also even greater vessels that might be developed in years to come.

Bechtel was responsible for project management of the port and Kizad for ADPC.

“With Khalifa Port and Kizad, we have committed to the emirate’s largest infrastructure project that will serve ADPC and will be a key enabler in driving the economic diversification of Abu Dhabi by 2030. Bechtel has done a great job to ensure we deliver on time and within budget, as we expected from a company internationally renowned for delivering complex projects in a disciplined way,” said Tony Douglas, CEO of ADPC.

“Collaboration and strong project management skills have been crucial to delivering this mega project on time and within budget. We thank ADPC and our stakeholders for an excellent working relationship, which has made the process of building the port both smooth and efficient,” added Steve Kay, Bechtel’s programme manager for Khalifa Port and Kizad.

Sustainability was a key element on the project. Bechtel managed the design and build of the $240-million, 8-km-long, award-winning environmental protection breakwater to safeguard the Ras Ghanada coral reef during both port construction and operation.

The company also implemented Abu Dhabi’s new Estidama (sustainability) regulations on a number of buildings in Khalifa Port – one of the first large projects in the UAE to do so.

The delivery of Khalifa Port coincides with Bechtel’s 50th anniversary of continuously working in the UAE.