Isla Verde expansion goes ahead
Acciona and ACS have been awarded a ?124.3m contract to build the third-phase expansion of the port of Algeciras. This will be concentrated in the outer harbour area of the Isla Verde quay. Work will consist of building a 2.05km outer dyke which will be 412 metres wide and allow vessels access to the eastern part of the quay.
The new Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) terminal being developed adjacent to the port’s largest container terminal facility, operated by Maritima Valenciana, is expected to commence operations in June/July 2006 and the unofficial word on the street is that Maritima Valenciana will operate this facility on behalf of MSC. Given the large volume of traffic that MSC now moves through the Maritima Valenciana facility and the inevitable movement of containers between the two facilities that will take place, especially in the start-up phase of the MSC terminal, this arrangement makes a lot of practical sense.
Construction of the dyke will take 17 months.