ABU DHABI Urban Planning Council (UPC) has completed the construction of the 53-km-long Mussafah Channel project, built at a cost of Dh1.5 billion ($408 million), and handed it over to Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC).

UPC commissioned the construction of the new Mussafah Channel to provide a safe navigation access channel with increased air draft (water depth) to service the Mussafah Industrial Zone and future ICAD (Abu Dhabi Industrial City) areas. The channel is located just off the south-western shoreline of Hudayriat Island, immediately to the west of the Mussafah Industrial Area.

The new channel required dredging a volume of 65 million cu m. The minimum depth is 9 m at low tide, and the minimum width is 200 m. The channel’s dimensions allow for two-way vessel traffic of large Panamax-type bulk carriers.