AD Ports secures dredging partner for Karachi port expansion: AD Ports’ JV with UAE-based Kaheel Terminals inked a major dredging agreement with Netherlands-based dredging and marine contractor Van Oord to expand berth capacity at the JV’s terminals in Pakistan’s Karachi port, according to a statement. AD Port’s subsidiary Noatum Ports is leading the project, with dredging works scheduled to be completed in 1Q 2026. The cost of the dredging contract was not disclosed.

Accommodating bigger fish: The project is set to deepen and lengthen the berths and navigational channels, to accommodate vessels of up to 350-meter length and drafts of up to 15.5 m in depth.

Once expansion works are completed, the terminals’ container handling capacity will surge by 25% to reach 1 mn TEUs, and its bulk handling capacity will double to reach 120k tonnes. Berths 6 to 10 (handle containers, whereas berths 11 to 17 cover general and bulk cargo.

BACKGROUND- The JV inked an agreement in 2024 to invest USD 175 mn to upgrade infrastructure and equipment, as well as boost the terminals’ capacity by 75%. This agreement — which came one year after the JV secured a concession for container-handling berths 6 to 10 — also expanded the JV’s concession to cover multipurpose berths 11 to 17. Once the investments are completed, the terminals will have the capacity to handle 14 mn tonnes per year, potentially raking in some USD 30 mn in revenues a year in the short term, AD Ports said then.

Karachi’s been the talk of the town: DP World is set to funnel USD 400 mn into a freight corridor connecting Pakistan’s largest two ports — Karachi Port and Port Qasim, under a joint agreement with Pakistan Railways and state-run National Logistics Corporation.

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