Location
Samoa / Global islands
Project record
Apia Port climate-resilient breakwater and terminal upgrade
Samoa's main international gateway is being upgraded under ADB project 47358-002. China Harbour Engineering Company holds the main landside civil works and breakwater-repair package, Beca supervises construction, and the delivery chain also includes Royal HaskoningDHV, Think Environment Consult, INSPIRE Consult and Cheoy Lee Shipyards. The latest implementation position separates near-close-out terminal sections from the unresolved marine critical path: Section 1 quality-assurance records and Section 2 handover were expected in June 2026, but the 100-metre breakwater reconstruction moved from a December 2026 contractor estimate in the 2024 monitoring report to mid-July 2027, followed by a one-year defects period.
Segment
Port infrastructure
Status
Section 1 quality-assurance close-out and Section 2 handover were expected in June 2026, while CHEC's 100-metre breakwater reconstruction is now expected in mid-July 2027; neither the June milestones nor breakwater completion has a later published acceptance certificate / Confirmed
Last checked
11 August 2026
Coverage
Related sectors
Port infrastructure 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
- Government of Samoa, Ministry of Finance and Samoa Ports Authority
- Delivery parties
- China Harbour Engineering Company Limited - main landside civil works and breakwater-repair contractor, Beca International Consultants Limited - construction supervision consultant, USD 3,881,125.46 contract, Royal HaskoningDHV Nederland B.V. - green-port initiative consultant, USD 900,226.60 contract, Think Environment Consult - CHEC environmental consultant for EIA and construction environmental management planning, INSPIRE Consult - CHEC consultant for quarry consultations, Cheoy Lee Shipyards Ltd. - tugboat supplier; USD 5,150,000 first-tug contract and USD 7,365,000 second-tug contract
- Contract route
- ADB records one internationally competed civil-works contract awarded in March 2021. Its operational procurement database names China Harbour Engineering Company Limited for the 'Landside Civil Works and Breakwater Repair' award and reports an ADB-financed amount of 35,415,550.78, while the discovery workbook does not expose the currency or full contract value. The project page separately describes the civil package as a USD 43.1 million awarded procurement line. Beca's supervision, Royal HaskoningDHV's green-port work and the Cheoy Lee tugboat contracts are separate awards and must not be summed as CHEC lower tiers.
- Execution window
- CHEC mobilised on 16 August 2021. The July-December 2024 monitoring report showed contractor estimates of April 2025 for Section 1, June 2025 for Section 2 and December 2026 for Section 3 and overall completion. ADB's later project record moves Section 1 quality-assurance documentation and Section 2 handover to June 2026 and the 100-metre breakwater to mid-July 2027, after which a one-year defects period is expected. The main ADB grant closing date has been extended from 31 March 2024 to 31 March 2029.
- Works package
- The civil programme covers reconstruction of the existing breakwater; aids to navigation; new and repaired pavements and stormwater drainage; buildings and portwide services; container-yard lighting; partial wharf-deck replacement; conversion of Shed 2 for devanning; an equipment-maintenance workshop; Shed 1 modifications; an X-ray scanner building; and a customs inspection shelter. The wider project also includes two tugboats, a wave-monitoring system and green-port initiatives.
- Marine interfaces
- The project joins a 100-metre breakwater reconstruction to an operating container and general-cargo gateway that handles almost all of Samoa's international trade. Breakwater redesign, X-bloc production and storage, quarry supply, navigation access, tug operations, wharf-deck work, terminal circulation and ongoing vessel calls must therefore be sequenced as one live-port system. Completion of landside buildings does not resolve the wave-exposure and harbour-protection risk carried by Section 3.
- Commercial evidence boundary
- ADB lists total project cost at USD 75.03 million, comprising USD 62.26 million of ADB financing and USD 12.77 million of counterpart funding. At 30 April 2026, the main grant showed USD 60.57 million of cumulative awards, or 97%, and USD 35.51 million of disbursements, or 57%. These project and grant figures are not the CHEC contract value. CHEC's full contract amount, current variation account, breakwater redesign price, lower-tier construction subcontract values and final forecast cost remain unpublished.
Contract and delivery chain
Named roles and open packages
Named appointments are shown against the workstream they cover. Unallocated packages remain open until a project source identifies the responsible party.
Main civil award
Landside Civil Works and Breakwater Repair
- Named party
- China Harbour Engineering Company Limited
- Status
- Confirmed
- Source position
- ADB's operational procurement database names CHEC on the March 2021 works award; SPA's monitoring report records the civil contract signed on 29 March 2021 and mobilisation on 16 August 2021. Source
Section 1
X-ray building, shelters and pavements
- Named party
- CHEC under Beca supervision
- Status
- Reported
- Source position
- ADB reports the X-ray building and scanner operational but says quality-assurance documentation was expected in June 2026 because records were limited; no later acceptance record was recovered. Source
Section 2
Remaining terminal works
- Named party
- CHEC under Beca supervision
- Status
- Reported
- Source position
- ADB's current record expected electrical commissioning in May 2026 and handover in June 2026; no later signed handover was recovered. Source
Section 3
Reconstruction of 100 metres of existing breakwater
- Named party
- CHEC under Beca supervision
- Status
- Reported
- Source position
- ADB reports the output as not achieved and expects CHEC's civil works at the breakwater site to finish in mid-July 2027, followed by a one-year defects period. Source
Construction supervision
Construction supervision services
- Named party
- Beca International Consultants Limited
- Status
- Confirmed
- Source position
- ADB records a USD 3,881,125.46 contract dated 8 February 2021; current monitoring remains ongoing. Source
Environmental and quarry consultation support
EIA, CEMP and quarry consultations
- Named party
- Think Environment Consult and INSPIRE Consult
- Status
- Confirmed
- Source position
- SPA's monitoring report identifies both firms as CHEC-appointed specialist consultants; no public package values or current execution status are disclosed. Source
Tugboat supply
Two replacement tugboats
- Named party
- Cheoy Lee Shipyards Ltd.
- Status
- Confirmed
- Source position
- ADB records the first USD 5.15 million tugboat contract and a separate USD 7.365 million second-tugboat award dated 8 May 2026; these are project packages, not CHEC subcontracts. Source
Project timeline
Material developments
Dated events that changed scope, counterparties, delivery, commissioning or operating status.
Open this project in the Change LogBreakwater becomes the July 2027 critical path
ADB's current record moves the 100-metre breakwater from the contractor's earlier December 2026 estimate to mid-July 2027 and places a one-year defects period after completion.
SourceSecond tugboat contract awarded
Cheoy Lee received a separate USD 7.365 million award, advancing fleet renewal without closing the CHEC civil and breakwater package.
SourceSPA monitoring report records a December 2026 contractor estimate
The report establishes the prior schedule baseline and provides the package-level comparison needed to quantify the later seven-month breakwater delay.
SourceCHEC civil contract signed
CHEC became the prime civil contractor, with mobilisation following on 16 August 2021 and specialist construction subcontract values still undisclosed.
SourceEvidence gap
What remains unverified
Outstanding evidence
- Signed Section 1 quality-assurance close-out and acceptance
- Section 2 electrical commissioning, handover and defects list
- Approved breakwater redesign, price and programme
- Section 3 field start and movement from mid-July 2027
- X-bloc production, storage, placement and acceptance quantities
- Quarry supply, haulage, marine plant and lower-tier assignments
- Aids to navigation, wave monitoring and live-port operating controls
- CHEC variations, Beca supervision extension and forecast final cost
- One-year defects period and formal whole-project handover
Sources and related records
Read featured analysis Methodology Submit a correction Project tracker
Source collections
Project sources 8
- Enhancing Safety, Security, and Sustainability of Apia Port Project Asian Development Bank, Current project record reviewed 11 August 2026
- ADB-reported IATI activity record for project 47358-002 Asian Development Bank data via d-portal, Current implementation fields reviewed 11 August 2026
- Environmental and Social Monitoring Report, July-December 2025 Asian Development Bank, February 2026
- Operational Procurement Database Asian Development Bank Data Library, Contract data through 30 June 2026
- Environmental and Social Monitoring Report, July-December 2024 Samoa Ports Authority, March 2025
- ESSSAP Project Samoa Ports Authority, Current project page reviewed 11 August 2026
- Apia International Port Samoa Ports Authority, Current port page reviewed 11 August 2026
- ADB and Samoa to build efficient, climate-resilient port Asian Development Bank, 13 August 2021