Gulf Construction Online - Khalifa Port’s expansion work on track

UAE Focus

An aerial view of Khalifa Port.

Khalifa Port’s expansion work on track

01 October 2020

Abu Dhabi Ports has announced that the expansion work on its Khalifa Port project was moving at a steady pace with 80 per cent of construction already completed within Phase One of its South Quay development, which is on track for completion by the year-end.

Once ready, the project is expected to substantially increase handling volumes by providing additional deep-water access and enhanced infrastructure.

The Khalifa Port expansion, announced in December 2019, aims to attract new business and significantly boost capacity in line with evolving customer expectations, and has progressed significantly since its inception despite the challenging economic conditions presented by the global pandemic.

To date, 200 m of quay wall and almost 175,000 sq m of land within Khalifa Port Logistics (KPL) have been handed over ahead of the project’s full Phase One completion in Q1 2021, said Abu Dhabi Ports.

Considerable progress has also been made on Phase One of Khalifa Port’s South Quay development. With 80 per cent of construction already complete, a total of 650 m of quay wall, containing two berths alongside a 37,000-sq-m terminal yard, is now available in advance of receiving its first shipment.

Progress has also been made on Abu Dhabi Terminals’ (ADT) expansion plans with the delivery of five new ship-to-shore cranes. With each unit boasting a lifting capacity of 90 tonnes, the new cranes have boosted capacity at the terminal significantly and have put Khalifa Port Container Terminal on track to meet its target of 5 million TEUs by the end of the current year.

The addition of land plots with adjacent quay wall and deep-water access at Khalifa Port provides a host of new customer opportunities, particularly for industrial producers requiring prime land plots in proximity to Khalifa Port Industrial Zone (Kizad) and cargo owners that wish to import, export and trans-ship with global markets via Khalifa Port’s multimodal touchpoints.

One example is Arabian Chemical Terminals (ACT) which recently signed a 50-year agreement to establish the first commercial bulk liquid and gas storage terminal that will be located on a plot with 16-m direct deepwater quay access within the newly developed KPL. This project is under way with the front-end engineering design (FEED) having been awarded in May.