In a special ceremony at Jebel Ali, DP World Chairman H.E. Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem has formally overseen the installation of the last of the 2752 65 ton blocks that make up the foundation of the extended quay wall of the 1 million TEU (twenty foot equivalent container units) expansion of Jebel Ali Container Terminal 2.

The expansion, scheduled to open for business in the second quarter of 2013, extends the quay wall by 400 metres to 3000 metres, allowing the simultaneous handling of six 15000 TEU mega ships.

Meanwhile, across the harbour from Terminal 2, work is also well underway on the brand new, state of the art, 4 million TEU capacity Terminal 3, set to open in 2014, taking Jebel Ali's total capacity to 19 million TEU.

Welcoming the progress made on the expansion work, H.E. Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman, DP World, said: DP World's pipeline of expansion projects and new developments are in line with the industry's emerging horizons both in terms of capacity and technology. As our flagship facility and the largest port in the Middle East, Jebel Ali has consistently brought efficiency to one of the busiest supply chains in the world. DP World remains committed to supporting Dubai's unparalleled position as the region's commercial hub and welcoming the next generation mega container ships.

Mohammed Al Muallem, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, DP World, UAE Region, said: For well over a year now, DP World, UAE Region has been handling volumes of more than 1 million TEU every month. With our customers now deploying ultra large container ships (ULCS), Jebel Ali is racing ahead with its capacity expansion to meet their demand. The expansion of Terminal 2 and the development of Terminal 3 will allow us to offer customers not just greater efficiencies but also economies of scale to match changing trade patterns. When the expansion work is complete, Jebel Ali Port will be able to handle ten of the next generation 18,000 TEU mega vessels at the same time " the only port in the region able to do so. The expansions also will create more than 1,000 jobs directly.In the first nine months of 2012 DP World, UAE Region, handled 9.98 million TEU, 4.6% ahead of the same period last year.