Companies are preparing to bid for the consultancy package on the upgrade of the existing container terminal at the Port of Fujairah in the UAE.

MEED understands the project owner, Abu Dhabi Ports, expects to receive proposals around mid-August.

The terminal upgrade forms part of a wider plan to take the port’s container capacity to 1-1.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) a year and increase the general cargo capacity to 700,000 to 800,000 tonnes a year.

Other projects include deepening the port’s berths from 15 metres to 16.5 metres to accommodate larger vessels and help increase the port’s capacity.

Mohamed Juma al-Shamisi, CEO of Abu Dhabi Ports, told MEED in July that the tender for deepening the berth and the development of a 1 kilometre quay and a 300,000-square-metre storage yard is expected to be released in August.

Bids for the second phase of the port’s service harbour are currently under evaluation with an award expected soon. Companies that are understood to have submitted an offer for the contract include:

• Afcons Infrastructure (India)
• China Harbour Engineering Company (China)
• Joannou & Paraskevaides (Cyprus)
• Overseas AST (local)

Al-Shamisi said the Port of Fujairah will strongly complement Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Port due to its direct access to the Indian Ocean.

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