The Fourth Estate - Journalism in Qatar

A port costing US$5.5 billion is to be built on reclaimed land in Mesaieed, Qatar.

The project, located south of Al Wakra, will help bring down escalating import costs and remove any handling and storage problems — the existing ports of Ras Laffan and Mesaieed are both struggling to keep up with an influx of container traffic and are impeded by slow Customs processes and crane shortages.

Ras Laffan port will triple in capacity in the next few years in anticipation of the predicted dramatic increases in hydrocarbon cargo.

For the next commercial era Qatar needs the new port, which will function as a free trade zone and share land with Doha International Airport, which itself is in the throes of a $4.1 billion expansion.