Belgian dredging company Jan De Nul has secured a contract worth almost 200 million euros to complete an artificial island in Dubai, a project that has been at a standstill for more than 15 years. Project developer Nakheel, part of Dubai Holding, announced this in a press release on Monday.
The project, Palm Jebel Ali, will be a reclaimed island in the shape of a palm tree. Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, already has one, but construction of the second, larger palm island was halted in 2008 during the global financial crisis.
Now Dubai is picking up the thread of the project, the structure of which is already visible. Jan De Nul will dredge, spray sand and create beaches over the next two years, so that construction can begin on the coastal island. In the first quarter of 2025, the first eight of the sixteen palm fronds should be ready for construction, according to the press release.
The island will cover 13.4 square kilometres, with a total of 91 kilometres of beach. Among other things, eighty hotels and resorts will be built on it.
Jan De Nul does not want to comment on the new contract for the time being, writes the business newspaper De Tijd. “It has been signed, but we still have to coordinate with the customer,” says the company.