Project record

Saba Black Rocks Harbor and Fort Bay improvement works

Black Rocks Harbor contractor camp and active construction site on Saba above the Caribbean coast in March 2026

Public Entity Saba; exact Black Rocks Harbor construction site image from the 26 March 2026 owner update

Public Entity Saba is building a hurricane-resilient harbor at Black Rocks while retaining Fort Bay as the island's cargo harbor. The public programme combines dredging, land reclamation, a rubble-mound breakwater protected with Xblocs, quay and marina facilities, road and utility interfaces, coral relocation and related Fort Bay improvement works.

Project signal

Construction in Caribbean Netherlands

Current status Public Entity Saba reported steady construction progress on 10 May 2026, including breakwater works and Xbloc arrivals, with additional units being produced in Sint Eustatius. Dredging and excavation were active in March 2026, but marine completion, harbor handover, Fort Bay close-out and operational opening remain unconfirmed. Source confidence Confirmed

Location

Caribbean Netherlands / Americas

Segment

Hurricane-resilient harbor, breakwater, dredging, quay and marina works

Status

Public Entity Saba reported steady construction progress on 10 May 2026, including breakwater works and Xbloc arrivals, with additional units being produced in Sint Eustatius. Dredging and excavation were active in March 2026, but marine completion, harbor handover, Fort Bay close-out and operational opening remain unconfirmed. / Confirmed

Last checked

2 August 2026

Coverage

Related sectors

Hurricane-resilient harbor, breakwater, dredging, quay and marina works is the primary work classification. Related sectors connect this record to adjacent marine delivery and market coverage.

Subject index

Related subjects

These subject pages bring together related projects, technical articles, reports, and evidence methods.

Project anatomy

Contract scope and delivery roles

Client / authority
Public Entity Saba, with Dutch national-government funding support
Delivery parties
Ballast Nedam International Projects B.V. - design-build main contractor under the contract signed 8 October 2024, Coral Vita and Saba Conservation Foundation - named partners for relocation of more than 1,000 corals; no marine construction package is attributed, Further marine, Xbloc, dredging and Fort Bay subcontractors - not identified in the reviewed official record
Contract route
TED result notice 763814-2024 names Public Entity Saba as buyer and Ballast Nedam International Projects B.V. as winner for the design and build of Black Rocks new harbor and Fort Bay harbor improvement works. The parties signed the construction contract on 8 October 2024. TED's published total value of 1 USD is a non-representative administrative entry and is not used as the contract value.
Execution window
Design and model testing followed contract signature in October 2024. Site preparation, road and camp works advanced in 2025; marine works followed the 2025 hurricane season. A dredge barge was on site by January 2026, breakwater work and dredged-material reuse were active in March, and Xblocs were arriving in batches by 10 May 2026. Earlier owner and contractor records targeted December 2026 for the marine structure or harbor infrastructure, but no current completion or acceptance record is public.
Works package
Current owner records define land reclamation, dredging, a main breakwater and marina facilities at Black Rocks. The 2022 EIA baseline also describes quays, finger piers, a RoRo wall, utilities and landside works, but its dimensions and quantities predate final design and are not treated as as-built. Saba's multi-annual budget separately describes widening the Fort Bay RoRo ramp and cargo area and dredging the main basin; the exact executed boundary between the TED package and other Fort Bay works remains to be confirmed.
Marine interfaces
Excavated boulders, rock, sand and fines are being reused in the breakwater inner core and temporary basin-dredging bunds. After a March 2026 turbidity plume, the contractor stopped the relevant activity and changed the method so fines are filtered on land; silt or bubble screens remained under study and work is to stop when critical thresholds are exceeded. More than 1,000 corals were relocated before marine construction, and an artificial reef and continuing monitoring remain part of the mitigation chain.
Commercial evidence boundary
No reliable public contract price was found. The Dutch cabinet's EUR 40 million reservation and first EUR 30 million tranche are funding records, not the Ballast Nedam contract value. The roughly USD 43 million earlier owner budget and roughly USD 52 million socioeconomic-study capital estimate are planning baselines, not an award or final account. TED's non-representative 1 USD entry is excluded from commercial comparison.

Project timeline

Material developments

Dated events that changed scope, counterparties, delivery, commissioning or operating status.

Open this project in the Change Log

Owner confirmed active breakwater and Xbloc delivery

Public Entity Saba reported steady construction progress, breakwater works and Xbloc arrivals in batches, with additional units being produced in Sint Eustatius. No completion, accepted quantities or operational release accompanied the update.

Source

Turbidity triggered a stop and revised excavation method

After fines from reused dredged material formed a plume, the contractor stopped the activity and shifted to filtering fines on land. Threshold monitoring and possible silt or bubble screens remain open controls.

Source

Public Entity Saba and Ballast Nedam signed the construction contract

The signature named Ballast Nedam International Projects as design-build main contractor and moved the project from procurement into design and delivery preparation.

Source

Evidence gap

What remains unverified

Outstanding evidence

  • Breakwater core formation and Xbloc production, delivery and placement
  • Basin dredging quantities, material classification and accepted geometry
  • Turbidity thresholds, monitoring records and any further method changes
  • Completion of coral relocation, artificial reef and monitoring commitments
  • Quay, finger-pier, marina, utility and landside completion
  • Exact Fort Bay scope, package responsibility and operational sequencing
  • Marine-structure completion, handover and harbor opening
  • Public disclosure of subcontractors, accepted quantities and final account

Related records 2

Reporting status

Construction, confirmed confidence

Last checked 2 August 2026 across 11 cited sources. The dated timeline above carries the project events.

Last checked 2 August 2026 Cited sources 11

Sources and related records

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Source collections

Project sources 11