AD Ports secures dredging partner for Karachi port expansion: AD Ports’ JV with UAE-based Kaheel Terminals inked a 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 Ports 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, and 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 expand by 25% to reach 1 mn TEUs, and its bulk handling capacity will double to reach 120k tons.

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 tons per year, potentially raking in some USD 30 mn in revenues a year in the short term, AD Ports said at the time.

Karachi’s been the talk of the town: DP World also recently agreed 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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