Dubai & Aden Port Development Company says it will expand and develop the port of Aden and the Aden Container Terminal (ACT) in two phases at a cost of $850m.

Phase one will involve a 400-metre expansion to the length of the berth, as well as expanding the container storage facility, constructing quay walls, dredging the port basin and infrastructure works.

Phase two will result in the berth being extended by a further 900 metres and will extend the total length of the berth to 2,000 metres.

Design work on the development is scheduled to begin in 2010.

Capacity at the port is now 700,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) a year. However, the expansion plans will increase this capacity to 1.5 million TEUs by 2012. From January until the end of October, the port received a total of 263,471 TEUs.

Dubai and Aden Port Development Company is a joint venture between Yemen Gulf of Aden Port and Dubai-based DP World. The company was set up in July 2008 and started as the operator and developer of the port in November 2008.