Ports development programme moves ahead

27 June 2003
The Latakia Port General Company has halved the size of the bond required from companies bidding to supply six gantry cranes to the Mediterranean ports of Latakia and Tartous. The move has been made to raise interest in the estimated $20 million-30 million contract, which was originally tendered in February but received only one response, understood to be from an Italian supplier. In a new tender issued on 22 June, the company has reduced the size of the bid bond required to $250,000 from $500,000.

The tender calls for companies to supply four gantry cranes to the port of Latakia and two to Tartous. The cranes are required to have a 38-metre outreach, 40-tonne under-spreader lifting capacity for containers and 45-tonne under-hook capacity.

A Latakia Port official says: 'We issued the tender four months ago but the tender failed. It is possible it was because of the war in Iraq or maybe it was because the bid bond was too high. So we have halved the size of the bond.' The deadline for bids is 22 August.The Tartous Port General Company (TPGC) is close to issuing an international tender for civil engineering work on its $120 million project to expand the southern port, which is part of a national programme to develop local ports (MEED 13:6:03).

The package is expected to include the construction of one new quay and rehabilitation of another, construction of new passenger and cargo terminals, dredging and rehabilitation of the main breakwater. The project is being 50 per cent funded by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and 50 per cent by the Transport Ministry. On 22 May, the EIB signed an agreement with the ministry to provide a $58.5 million loan to TPGC for the project (MEED 30:5:03).

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