9 of the world’s biggest seaport projects under construction

Rapid expansion of infrastructure in regions like Asia-Pacific, the Indian subcontinent, and the Middle East, means opportunities for construction companies totalling tens of billions of dollars each year. Older seaport facilities in developed regions like Europe are also seeing substantial upgrades to keep pace with larger, more modern shipping.

Construction Briefing dives into nine of the most significant ongoing seaport projects, exploring their scale, cost, and the companies involved:

9) Paradip Port, India

Work has started on the construction of a dry bulk cargo terminal at the western dock of Paradip Port in the Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha in India, which is expected to be operational in early 2025.

A special purpose vehicle called Jindal Paradip Port Limited (JPPL), formed by Jindal Steel & Power and Jindal Port Private Ltd is investing Rs 3,392 crore (US$408.9 million) in the development.

Construction of the first phase of the 25-million-tonne capacity cargo terminal started late last year. Work also involves dredging to deepen the port’s approach channel to 22m and its entrance channel to 21m.

Separately, Indian contractor Larsen & Toubro is reported to have won a Rs 544 crore (US$65.6 million) contract to extend the port’s south breakwater by 500m to accommodate fully loaded Capesize ships (ships so large that they cannot pass through the Suez or Panama canals). The work is part of the supporting infrastructure for the construction of the new dry bulk cargo handling terminal.

8) Port of Neom, Saudi Arabia

Contractors Besix and Boskalis last year won a design and build lump sum contract worth SAR 3 billion (US$800 million) for the construction of 3km of quay walls at the Port of Neom in Saudi Arabia.

Neom is a special economic zone in the northwest of the Kingdom.

Boskalis is responsible for the deepening and widening of the main access channel. Materials recovered during the dredging process will be reused of to construct earthwork platforms for the development of Oxagon, an advanced manufacturing centre surrounding the port.

Meanwhile Besix is working with local partner Modern Building Leaders (MBL) to design and build more than 3km of quay walls. As part of its efforts to reduce the project’s carbon footprint, low carbon steel frames will be used for the construction of the quay walls.

Located on the Red Sea, near the Suez Canal, the port serves as the primary seaport for Neom. The first container terminal is set to be operational by 2025.

7) Laem Chabang Port expansion phase 3, Thailand

Phase 3 of the Laem Chabang port expansion project in the Si Racha district of Chon Buri Province on the eastern Gulf of Thailand coast sees construction work to increase the deep-water seaport’s container throughput from 11 million containers a year to 18.1 million.

Work on the US$927 million project involves the construction of six quays and a railway station. Four container berths will add capacity of 7 million containers per year, while a general berth will handle a million containers per year and a RO/RO terminal will accommodate a million cars per year.

The Port Authority of Thailand (PAT) signed a public private partnership (PPP) deal to develop and operate the port in 2021 with the GPC joint venture. The joint venture involves China Harbour Engineering Company’s overseas arm, Gulf Energy Development, and PTT Tank Terminal Company.

As of February this year, the construction of sand barriers is now 71% complete, excavation and dredging 61%, and wave barriers at 39%.

Phase three itself is divided into two separate phases, one focused on infrastructure development and the second on energy-related business areas. The first of those phases is due for completion in 2027.

6) Port of Genoa breakwater upgrade, Italy

A consortium led by Italian contractor Webuild has already started construction on an upgrade to the Port of Genoa in Italy in a project valued at a combined €928 million (US$1 billion).

Webuild and partners Fincantieri, Fincosit and Sidra laid the first stone for the 6.2km-long breakwater in May 2023.

The new maritime infrastructure aims to protect the basins and port structures from climate change, acting as a bulwark at sea.

Nearly all the material from the demolition of an old breakwater will be reused.

The base of the new breakwater will reach depths of up to 50m, making it the deepest in Europe, and the build involves the use of seven million tonnes of rock. A total of 100 35m-wide, 67m-long and 33m-high prefabricated, reinforced concrete caissons will be placed along the base.

The new breakwater will allow larger ships to access the port. The previous basin at the port was built in the 1930s. The upgraded port will have a turning basin of 800m, giving more room for modern shipping.

The first phase of project, for the Western Ligurian Sea Port Authority, is scheduled for completion in 2026.

5) Maasvlakte II terminal expansion, Netherlands

The Port of Rotterdam Authority signed a deal with APM Terminals to expand their operations at Europe’s largest seaport at Rotterdam in the Netherlands last year.

The Maasvlakte II terminal expansion project is worth just over €1 billion (US$1.1 billion) and involves adding approximately 47.5 hectares to the existing Maaskvlakte II terminal.

An additional 1km of deep-sea quay will be constructed and the Port of Rotterdam Authority confirmed that new quay walls are already under construction.

The quay walls, being built by a consortium of Hochtief, Ballast Nedam and Van Oord, are due to be completed by mid-2024, with the expanded terminal expected to be operational by the second half of 2026.

The port authority said the expansion project will see the terminal’s capacity increased by approximately 2 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units).

4) Maspion International Container Terminal, Indonesia

Shipping company DP World and Indonesian conglomerate Maspion Group are partnering on the construction of a new container terminal in Gresik, East Java, Indonesia.

The new container terminal has a design capacity of up to three million TEUs, with the joint venture company DP World Maspion East Java breaking ground on the US$1.2 billion project in October last year.

The multi-phase scheme has started with the construction of a container terminal with capacity of one million TEUs and a 110-hectare industrial logistics park.

The project also involves building warehouses, distribution units, loading and unloading units and access roads. Completion is expected in 2027.

3) Kampot Logistics and Port Centre, Cambodia

Last year saw China Harbour Engineering Company sign a construction contract with the Kampot Logistics and Port Co. to build a US$1.5 billion seaport in Bokor town in the province of Kampot in southwestern Cambodia.

The deep-water port will have a depth of at least 15m and will be able to accommodate large ships of up to 100,000 tonnes.

The port is being built in three phases. The first costs $200m and will be operational by 2025. Annual cargo handing capacity will start at 300,000 TEUs in 2025, rising to 600,000 in 2030. On completion, it will be the second-largest deep-water international port in Cambodia.

2) King Abdulaziz Port upgrade, Saudi Arabia

China Harbour Engineering Co is once again the main contractor on a US$1.86 billion project to upgrade King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

Work on the project, overseen by the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani), in cooperation with Saudi Global Ports under the build-operate-transfer model, started last year.

It involves refurbishing berths and facilities across the port’s first container terminal, as well as expanding berths and overhauling the container yard in the second terminal.

The project should increase the port’s overall capacity by 120% to 7.5m TEUs and allow it to handle giant container ships.

The construction period, which started in February last year, was due to last around 18 months.

1) Four new ports in Andhra Pradesh, India

Four new ports are planned or already under construction in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh at a total reported cost of Rs 16,000 crore (US$1.9 billion).

They include the first phase of a new deep-water port at Machilipatnam, where contractor Megha Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (Meil) started work in May 2023. It won an engineering, procurement and construction deal tendered by the Andhra Pradesh Maritime Board worth Rs 3,940 crore (US$475 million). Completion of that phase, which will see the port able to handle cargo of 35 million tons (MT) per year across four berths, is due for mid-2025.

Separately, work on the Mulapeta Port in Srikakulam started last year. The port will be able to handle 25 MT per year after the first phase of work, costing around Rs 4,400 crore (US$500 million), completes in 2025. It will feature three general cargo berths and bulk cargo terminal.

Meanwhile, the first phase of a new port at Ramayapatnam is already operational. It launched with four berths in January 2024 as part of a Rs 3,800 crore (US$458 million) project launched two years ago. It was reportedly completed 10 months ahead of schedule. A further 15 berths are set to be added to the port in later phases.

And towards the end of last year, a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India provided a loan of Rs 3,000 crore (US$361.6 million) loan to the Kakinda Gateway Port Private Ltd. for the construction of the Kakinada Gateway seaport, likely to be commissioned in 2025.

Construction work on breakwaters stretching 3.2km south and 0.6km north has already started for the port, which will have three berths in its first phase. A second phase proposes a liquefied natural gas terminal.