Ed-Zublin-Al Jaber venture wins Khalifa port deal

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A joint venture between ED Zublin AG and Al Jaber Transport & General Contracting has won an AED1.02 billion contract from the Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) for its flagship Khalifa Port & Industrial Zone (KPIZ).

The agreement between the ADPC and the German and Emirati firms comprises the design, construction, fit-out, testing and commissioning of the offshore port’s civil and structural building development. Work is due to begin immediately and is scheduled for completion in August 2012.

The work includes the construction of 23 buildings and associated structures, including the six-storey Terminal Operations Building that will act as the centre of the port’s operations.

An offshore clinic, fire station, harbour master building, worker services building, and four 11kV substations and maintenance and repair workshops will also be built, along with more than 1,000 metres of quay wall, an 5.4km dual carriageway linking the offshore port to the mainland with associated service roads, street lighting, two helipads and all site-wide utilities, including electrical, drainage, sewerage, potable water, and telecoms.

Located midway between Abu Dhabi and Dubai in the Taweelah industrial district, the first phase of the port will replace Abu Dhabi’s existing main port of Mina Zayed. It will have an initial capacity of 2 million TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units), of containers and 9 million tons of general cargo.

In June Al Jaber GIS won an AED 350 million contract for the design, procurement, integration and installation of the control systems throughout the onshore and offshore areas. Larsen & Toubro was commissioned for the electrical medium voltage (MV) power supply in March.

KPIZ will eventually comprise 420km² of land organized into vertically integrated clusters for aluminium, petrochemicals, glass, paper and other major sectors. Earlier this month ADPC announced National Bank of Abu Dhabi as its financial adviser.