South Korea’s Daewoo Engineering & Construction is the low bidder for the construction contract covering the western breakwater at Iraq’s Grand Faw port.

A total of four contractors are vying to win the deal, following the opening of financial offers on 7 August. Bids were submitted in mid-July. A contract award is expected in the first half of September.  

The deal covers the construction of a western breakwater on the Al-Faw peninsula facing the Khor Abdullah channel, about 100 kilometres southeast of Basra.

Daewoo has submitted a price of about €521m ($688.5m). The second-lowest bidder is Greek firm Archirodon with a price of about €541m.

The remaining two bidders were the Netherlands’ Van Oord with a price of €680m and South Korea’s Hyundai with a bid of €790m.

Potential bidder Netherlands-based Royal Boskalis Westminster has been excluded from the bidding process, and the Iraqi Transport Ministry has declined to give a reason for the decision as yet.

The scope of works includes building a breakwater 13,800 metres in length and a secondary 1,600 metre-long breakwater. It also includes the extension of an existing breakwater.

The contract forms part of a wider scheme to expand the port’s infrastructure and develop Basra into a regional trade and logistics hub.

Last November, Archirodon was awarded the $264.8m deal for the design-and-build contract of the eastern breakwater at Grand Faw port. Construction has started on the project and is expected to be completed in mid-2014.