The joint venture of Abu Dhabi Ports and China’s Cosco Shipping Ports has invited firms to bid by 18 July for the marine works package of the planned second container terminal at Khalifa Port, sources familiar with the project tell MEED.

The package has been tendered before.

Companies that submitted a bid for the contract in August last year are understood to include:

• Afcons Infrastructure (India)
• Bam International (Netherlands)
• China Harbour Engineering Company (China)
• National Marine Dredging Company (UAE)
• Hyundai Engineering & Construction (South Korea)
• Van Oord (Netherlands)

The new scope includes the construction of a 3-kilometre quay wall instead of a 1km quay wall, in addition to deepening the port’s main channel and basin.

An Abu Dhabi Ports spokesperson said last month that the second terminal at the port is expected to become operational in early 2019.

The preparatory work for the terminal is being undertaken by Abu Dhabi-based National Marine Dredging Company.

Once completed, Terminal 2 is expected to double Khalifa Port’s existing capacity of 2.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), with provision for an additional 1 million TEUs depending on the success of the business model and the port’s growth.

Cosco signed a 35-year concession agreement with Abu Dhabi Ports in September 2016 covering the construction, operation and maintenance of Khalifa Port’s Terminal 2. The contract is renewable for five years and valued at an estimated $738m.