Abu Dhabi Ports, the master developer, operator and manager of the emirate’s commercial and community ports, announced plans to design and construct a new cruise jetty at Sir Bani Yas Cruise Beach – the signature tourist destination located off the coast of Abu Dhabi, the company said in its release.
The AED 100 million (€24.5 million) new jetty project will be completed in Q4 2020, in time for the launch of the 2021 cruise season.
The expansion will allow two vessels to dock at any given time and provide up to 5,000 passengers with direct access to embark and disembark at an accelerated rate on the southeast beach of Sir Bani Yas Island.
Presently, cruise ships set anchor about one kilometre offshore from the island and visitors are ferried to and from the Cruise Beach via tender craft.
BAM International, the operating name for the Dutch construction company Royal BAM Group, outside of Europe, was selected to design and construct the new jetty. The cruise jetty comprises an open-access trestle (350 metres length x 6 metres width) extending to a piled berth platform (105 metres length x 15 metres width), together with eight mooring dolphins, firefighting equipment, solar lighting, as well as a hand railing, with an option to construct ten beach-control structures (groynes).
Located in Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra Region, Sir Bani Yas Island is the Arabian Gulf’s first and only dedicated cruise beach stopover destination and is the gateway to some of the most spectacular wildlife and historical treasures in the region.