Local developer Nakheel has received bids from contractors for work on two of its offshore island developments in Dubai – Palm Jebel Ali and The World.

For Palm Jebel Ali, contractors have submitted bids for a dredging and reclamation contract that is expected to involve 5-6 million cubic metres of material. The material will be used to complete the man-made offshore island, which is located to the south of Jebel Ali Freezone.

Reclamation work for Palm Jebel Ali is largely complete. In 2006, the Nakheel executive chairman at the time, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, told MEED: “Major reclamation on Palm Jebel Ali is 95% completed, with the remaining 5% due for completion in the coming weeks. Construction of the breakwater, which surrounds the island, is 98% completed.”

The project was put on hold in 2009 before the reclamation work was finished. From satellite imagery, it can be seen that three of the fronds that make up the island have not been completed.

The original contractor for the reclamation works on Palm Jebel Ali was Belgium’s Jan de Nul.

Nakheel released details of the new masterplan for Palm Jebel Ali in June 2023. Double the size of Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali will have 110 kilometres of shoreline and extensive green spaces. The development will feature over 80 hotels and resorts, along with a diverse range of entertainment and leisure facilities.

READ MORE: Nakheel tenders Palm Jebel Ali villas

It includes seven connected islands, catering to approximately 35,000 families. The development also emphasises sustainability, with 30 per cent of public facilities powered by renewable energy.

For The World, contractors have submitted bids for a contract to reclaim land on the development so that the individual islands representing countries are joined together to form continents.

It is understood that the decision to transform The World into continents has been made to make the project easier to develop. 

Many of the individual country islands were sold to investors when the project was launched in the early 2000s, and subsequent efforts to build properties on the island often struggled because each individual island required its own power connection, water supply and sewage treatment, which drove up development costs.

With islands grouped as connected continents, they can share utility services, which should reduce development costs.

Van Oord of the Netherlands completed the original dredging work for The World between 2003 and 2008.

READ MORE: Nakheel and Meydan become part of Dubai Holding