Abu Dhabi Opens $7.2 Billion Khalifa Mega-Port Project

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--When Abu Dhabi's Khalifa Port project is completed it will cover an area of 420 square kilometers making it four times the size of Abu Dhabi Island, two thirds the size of Singapore and a quarter the size of Greater London stretching from Canary Wharf to Slough.

The port has the first semi-automated container terminal in the region and will handle all of Abu Dhabi's container traffic when the transition is made from Mina Zayed early in 2013. Khalifa Port forms part of the development, which includes Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad) of which the first Phase A will cover 51 square kilometers. The port will offer facilities and direct port access for all companies setting up in Kizad forming a key enabler in driving the economic diversification of Abu Dhabi by creating more than 150,000 jobs and contributing 15% of non-oil based gross domestic product by 2030. The zone is reported to have signed up 44 industrial heavyweights to lease land, which will add about $40 billion to Abu Dhabi's economy. Emirate Aluminum (EMAL) is Kizad's anchor tenant and the site features the largest single site Greenfield aluminum smelter in the world.

The opening of the port on September 1, 2012 will triple Abu Dhabi's cargo handling capacity for both containers and general cargo. The 4-kilometer quay wall is equipped with the latest technology and has the capacity to handle the largest container ships currently afloat. Initial capacity is 2.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units of container traffic and 12 million tons of general cargo annually. Following a program of phased development port capacity will grow to 15 million twenty-foot equivalent units and 35 million tons of general cargo annually by 2030.

With an initial budget of $7.2 billion, the offshore port has been built on a reclaimed island with an offshore area extending over an area of 2.7 square kilometers, and the container terminal is positioned more than four kilometers out to sea. This assists in protecting the Ras Ghanada coral reef which runs adjacent to the onshore port areas. Abu Dhabi Ports (ADPC) invested $240 million in developing an 8 kilometers environmental protection breakwater to protect marine life and the coral reef. The Florida Coral Marine Institute and Al Ain University are monitoring the state of the reef.

Abu Dhabi Terminals will operate the port. The company already operates the ports of Mina Zayed, Musaffah and the Free Port. ADPC provides marine services and security and also operates the 11,000 square meters container freight station in the onshore port area.

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