On the home straight
If we can believe the published timeline, then Q1 / 2021 will see the dawn of a new era for Abu Dhabi Ports’ flagship, Khalifa Port. The quays are being extended and the fairway dredged, whilst new players are simultaneously entering the fray there.
The deadline is already quite close, and Abu Dhabi Ports nevertheless confirmed recently that the extension of its Khalifa Port remains set to be completed early in 2021. The programme was originally announced in December 2019 and – if things go to plan – the environment of the global pandemic hasn’t put much of a dent in the timetable.
The requisite infrastructure for greater throughput and an additional deepwater fairway are the heart of the expansion project. Approximately 200 m of new quay walls have already been built and almost 175,000 m² of a Khalifa Port logistics complex has been tackled before the first phase of the project is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2021.
Substantial progress has also already been made on the first phase of the development of Khalifa Port’s southern quay, which is due to be finished as early as the end of 2020. Now that 80% of the construction work has been finished, 650 m of quay walls with two berths lie next to a 37,000 m² terminal. Arabian Chemical Terminals is set to establish a new liquid and gas terminal there.
Abu Dhabi Terminals, in turn, has acquired five new ship-to-shore cranes. Saif Al Mazrouei, the head of the port cluster in Abu Dhabi Ports, proudly pointed out that “Khalifa Port’s container terminal is on track to achieve its target of handling approximately 5 million teu by the end of this year.”
