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MUSCAT: Serka Taahhut Insaat, the engineering construction subsidiary of Turkish conglomerate Abdali Holding, has been awarded a contract to build the infrastructure of the commercial quay at the Port of Duqm, which anchors the world-scale Special Economic Zone at Duqm. The total cost of the package, which includes the construction of roads and the development of a port operation zone, is around RO 107 million. The keenly awaited contract, widely referred to as Infrastructure Package 2 (IP2), will help create the complete infrastructure for dedicated terminals to handle container, break-bulk and dry-bulk cargoes at the port.
When completed by around 2019, it will allow for the Port of Duqm to make the transition from the present early operations phase to full-fledged commercial operations. Serka Taahhut, a newcomer to Oman’s increasingly crowded construction sector, outbid veteran players Consolidated Contractors Co Oman, Galfar Engineering & Contracting, the Strabag Oman / OSCO/ HEC JV, and Simplex Infrastructures LLC to win the prestigious contract. As with all infrastructure and services procured within the Duqm Special Economic Zone (SEZ), the IP2 package was tendered out by the Duqm SEZ Authority (SEZAD).
According to officials, the IP2 contract is perhaps the single most important of around seven separate packages into which the construction of infrastructure and facilities at the Port of Duqm has been organised. It entails, among other things, the construction of dedicated terminals along the length of the 2.2 kilometre commercial quay that was completed in 2012 as part of the marine infrastructure development of the port. Significantly, a pair of container terminals of a total length of 1,600 metres will be created as part of the contract. Located adjacent to each other, the container terminals will offer a combined throughput capacity of 3.5 million TEUs per annum, enabling the positioning of the Port of Duqm as a major transshipment and distribution hub in the region.
Likewise, the port will also be equipped with its own 300-metre-long dry bulk terminal with a capacity to handle 5 million tons per annum of minerals. A similar 300-metre length of the quay, currently serving as a multipurpose terminal as part of the port’s Early Phase Operations, will be upgraded into a full-fledged break-bulk terminal. Also part of the contract, Serka Taahhut will develop the Port Operations Area to serve as the nerve centre of the entire maritime hub. A traffic control tower and port emergency services, among other operations-related facilities, will be housed within this area.
“The project consists of all necessary infrastructure like ground improvement, crane rails, power distribution, drainage and sewer systems, site lighting, pavements, roads, perimeter security systems, refer gantry systems and also the administrative buildings and warehouses on roughly 1 million square metres of land to serve as a container terminal at Port of Duqm,” said Serka Taahhut’s parent organisation, Abdali Holding, in a statement. The group has interests spanning engineering construction, life sciences, facilities management, energy, and tourism. The IP2 package is slated for completion by mid-2019, according to Serka Taahhut.
© Oman Daily Observer 2016
