Maldives' Thilafushi Port Advances Construction, China Harbour Engineering to Build 375-Meter International Dock

en.Wedoany.com Reported - Recently, Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu inspected the Thilafushi commercial port construction project, where international and domestic dock works undertaken by China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd. are progressing. The project plans to build a 375-meter international container dock and approximately 2 kilometers of domestic vessel dock, with the first phase scheduled for completion and operation by November 2027.

China Harbour Engineering signed an agreement with Maldives Ports Limited on July 20 for the construction of international and domestic docks. The works include the international dock quay wall, domestic dock quay wall, and related port facilities. According to construction progress published on September 30, approximately 40% of the reclamation work for the 820-meter shoreline area of the domestic dock under China Harbour Engineering's responsibility has been completed, and the international dock quay wall is scheduled for completion by the end of July 2027.

The domestic cargo operation area implemented concurrently at the port has completed the first 100-meter section of quay wall, and paving work is underway for the 40,100-square-meter yard. This portion of the project is undertaken by Maldives Transport and Contracting Company and is planned to be put into service as a domestic vessel cargo and goods clearance facility. Port equipment procurement is also advancing, with the first batch of equipment originally scheduled for delivery in October.

The new Thilafushi port is planned on approximately 60 hectares of land, with an initial annual container handling capacity designed at 390,000 TEUs, expected to increase to 1.8 million TEUs upon full completion. The international dock is planned with a front water depth of 14.6 meters, and the shoreline can be extended to 1.4 kilometers in the long term. The port area is initially planned to be equipped with 2 ship-to-shore container cranes and 1 mobile harbor crane.

The Maldivian government plans to transfer the existing commercial port operations in the capital Malé to Thilafushi in phases. Maldives Ports Limited proposed on October 2 to commence partial port operations in late October; the target for the official opening of the port's first phase is November 11, 2027, and the target completion time for the overall project is November 2028.