Abu Dhabi Ports expects to award the consultancy contract for upgrading the container terminal at Fujairah port before end of 2017.

The  consultancy contract  will help assess the business case for upgrading the terminal’s superstructures, including the installation of gantry cranes and yard equipment.

“We are in the final stages of the bid evaluation process,” Ross Thompson, chief commercial and strategy officer of Abu Dhabi Ports, tells MEED.

The scope of the consultancy work will include a long-term forecast for the terminal. “An upgrade in superstructure and equipment will be a function of commerciality,” says Thompson.

MEED understands US consultancy Aecom and local MUC Engineering are among the firms that have submitted a bid for the consultancy contract.

The tender for the contract  to deepen the berth to 16.5 metres, build a 1 kilometre quay and construct a 300,000 square-metre storage yard at the container terminal is  also expected to be issued before end of the year.

Abu Dhabi Ports signed a 35-year concession earlier this year with the Port of Fujairah to develop and operate the container terminal at the port, which was previously managed by Dubai-based DP World.

Operating and expanding the container terminal, which is outside the Strait of Hormuz, is a key component of Abu Dhabi Ports’ future growth strategy.