Jordan’s Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC) has invited expressions of interest for phase 2 of the Aqaba New Port expansion.

The deadline for international marine contractors in joint venture with local contractors to submit prequalification documents is 3 May 2015.

MEED reported on 25 March that the expansion would increase the container port’s capacity by two extra 250m berths, bringing it to 2.2 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

Existing capacity is 1.5m TEUs with a quay length of 1000m.

The packages include marine civil works, bulk earthworks, berth structure and wharf furniture.

The ADC is negotiating a loan to finance the project from the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

In February 2015, a consortium of Spanish Tecnicas Reunidas and PHB signed the contract to re-qualify and expand the industrial pier at the port of Aqaba, in Jordan, worth €130m ($142m).

The New Port of Aqaba is a priority infrastructure project for Jordan. As the country’s only maritime port it is a key component of Jordan’s strategy to become a Red Sea logistics centre for the Levant.

Jordan recently tendered a $75m rail project connecting Aqaba Port to phosphate mines in Shidiya. It will handle 6 million tonnes a year of phosphate.