A team comprising local Huta Marine and the Netherlands’ Archirodon submitted a low bid for the reclamation and dredging contract for the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries & Services, located in Ras Al-Khair on Saudi Arabia’s Gulf coast.

A final contract is likely to be awarded in July, according to sources familiar with the transaction.

Other teams or companies that submitted an offer for the contract are understood to include:

• China Harbour Engineering Company (China)
• Dredging International (Belgium)
• Jan De Nul (Belgium)/El-Seif Engineering Contracting (local)
• National Marine Dredging Company (UAE)
• Royal Boskalis Westminster (Netherlands)
• Van Oord (Netherlands)

The front-end engineering and design (feed) development, awarded last year to a joint venture of the Netherlands’ Royal Haskoning and South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction, is nearing completion.

The scope of the maritime project includes seven dry docks, two basins and five piers, a ship lift system, workshops, warehouses, utility services areas, as well as office buildings, living quarters, and recreational facilities for more than 10,000 workers.

The maritime complex is being managed by Saudi Aramco.

The firm recently signed a joint venture agreement with state-owned National Shipping Company of Saudi Arabia (Bahri), UAE-based marine engineering specialist Lamprell and South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) to build a $5.2bn shipyard in Ras al-Khair.

The maritime yard will be the largest in the GCC in terms of size and scale, and will be partially operational in 2019 and fully operational by 2022. 

By 2030, the maritime complex is expected to contribute up to SAR64bn ($17bn) annually to the kingdom’s gross domestic product (GDP).