EXCLUSIVE: Abu Dhabi to retender port package

20 March 2018
Major marine contractors submitted bids for the Khalifa Port contract last August

The joint venture of Abu Dhabi Ports and China’s Cosco Shipping Ports may retender the contract for the marine works package on the planned second container terminal at Khalifa Port, sources familiar with the project tell MEED.

It is not clear why the client is retendering the contract.

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

The same firms are likely to participate in the new tender, which one source describes as “a major project”.

The package involves the construction of a 1 kilometre quay wall as well as deepening the port’s main channel and basin.

MEED earlier reported that the bid evaluation process was ongoing, with an award expected before the end of 2017.

The scope of work entails deepening the main channel and basin from 16.5 metres to 18 metres as well as the construction of 1,000 metres of quay wall.

The client said last year it expects work to be completed by the selected contractor in mid-2018.

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

Last November, the joint venture awarded Beijing-based China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) the contract to upgrade the 1.2km-long container terminal at Khalifa Port.

The value of the contract was not disclosed. The scope includes mechanical, electrical and plumbing work to automate the terminal.

Once completed, Terminal 2 is expected to double Khalifa Port’s existing capacity of 2.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), with a provision for an additional 1 million TEU 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 for the construction, operation and maintenance of Khalifa Port’s Terminal 2. The contract is renewable for five years and valued at an estimated $738m.

Abu Dhabi Terminals will continue to operate the Khalifa Port’s Terminal 1.

 

 

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