The Royal Saudi Navy has received bids from contractors for an estimated SR600m ($160m) contract to expand its port near Jeddah.

At least four groups bid for the contract, covering 6 million cubic metres of dredging and reclamation to a depth of 16 metres and building a concrete block quay wall, as well as berths and wharfs for naval vessels serving with the Western Fleet in the Red Sea.

The Eastern Fleet serving the Gulf is based at Jubail. The navy has three other bases at Yanbu, Dammam and Ras al-Mishab.

The navy wants to carry out three other port projects on the Red Sea coast.

The authorities at Jeddah Islamic Port plan to tender a contract to build a fourth terminal, which will increase port capacity by almost 60 per cent. Ports group PSA of Singapore has completed a feasibility study for the terminal which will have the capacity to handle 4 million 20-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) when it opens in 2020 (MEED 25:9:09).

Emaar, The Economic City is developing a port at King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC). The port will consist of a multi-purpose cargo terminal and a container terminal with capacity for a 1.7 million TEUs, to be increased in several phases. The port will have a depth of 18 metres.

A consortium headed by Saudi Binladin Group and Malaysia’s MMC is also planning to build a port at Jizan Economic City. The port will support industrial development at the city.