Regional monitor

MENA Marine Works Monitor: July 2026

Sixteen Middle East records now span work moving on site, projects in finance or procurement, an energy-terminal channel in field execution, desalination systems from bid opening and EPC award through construction, performance testing and operation, and a five-plant seawater pipeline at developer qualification. Port, terminal and utility stages remain distinct.

Public web report / version 2.7 / published 13 July 2026 / data cutoff 20 July 2026.

Aerial view of reclaimed terminal land, quay construction, and offshore breakwater works at Al Faw Grand Port in Iraq

Al Faw Grand Port / General Company for Ports of Iraq

Evidence scope

Sixteen projects across ports, energy terminals and seawater utility interfaces

Sixteen public IMWO project records in Bahrain, Jordan, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and the United Arab Emirates, spanning port infrastructure, energy-terminal access and marine utilities at prequalification, tender, financing, award, early works, construction, commissioning and completed stages.

16 tracked projects111 source citations15 Confirmed records8 delivery phases

Portfolio composition

Project distribution in this edition

Calculated from 16 public project records in this edition. Counts describe the current portfolio, not market size, expenditure, or completion progress.

Delivery phase

  1. Construction 531%
  2. Award 319%
  3. Commissioning 213%
  4. Tender 213%
  5. Completed 16%
  6. Early Works 16%
  7. Financing 16%
  8. Prequalification 16%

Project segment

  1. Marine Utilities 1063%
  2. Port Infrastructure 531%
  3. Deep Water Ports And Energy Terminals 16%

Format

Regional monitor

Audience

Owners, contractors, consultants, lenders, suppliers, and institutions screening current Middle East marine construction interfaces and the evidence maturity behind each record.

Access

Open web and PDF report. No registration or access request is required.

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Evidence table

Download the fixed project evidence set used for this edition, including phase, confidence, update date, and primary source fields.

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Publication record

A stable edition with a visible revision trail.

International Marine Work Organization (2026). MENA Marine Works Monitor: July 2026 (Version 2.7, IMWO-REP-2026-07-MENA; data cutoff 20 July 2026). https://imwo.org/reports/report-mena-monitor

Edition identifier
IMWO-REP-2026-07-MENA
Current revision
Version 2.7 / updated 20 July 2026. A sixteenth Middle East record adds Fujairah I IWP at EPC award. EtihadWE confirms the AED 1.046 billion agreement, while Lantania defines a submarine intake tower, two GRP intake pipelines and a GRP marine outfall under NMDC's civil and marine role. Notice to proceed, final geometry and installed quantities remain open. The web, PDF and CSV editions now align on 111 project-source citations.
Review cycle
Monthly evidence review; material corrections or project-stage changes can trigger an interim dated revision.
Correction route
Submit stronger primary evidence or a documented correction for review in the next dated revision.

Calculated snapshot

What the included records show

Every count uses the same sixteen-record denominator at the stated data cutoff. Bars show the share of the included evidence set, not a forecast or market-size estimate.

Tracked projects 16

All sixteen public Middle East records included at the cutoff.

16 of 16 included records
Confirmed records 15

Fifteen records meet the Confirmed evidence threshold; Taweelah C exposes cooling-water review and existing-plant tie-ins but remains Reported for physical marine scope.

15 of 16 included records
Marine utilities 10

Aqaba-Amman, Fujairah I, Ghubrah III, Hassyan, Hawar, Rabigh 4, Ras Mohaisen, Taweelah C, Taweelah RO and the five-IWP qualification programme form the marine-utility subset.

10 of 16 included records

Executive findings

Sixteen MENA records sit at different points between confirmed delivery and marine interfaces that still lack package-level definition.

Finding 01

Utility interfaces require phase-specific reading

Aqaba-Amman is waiting on financial close, while Hassyan has entered phased commissioning. Fujairah I has a signed EPC and defined intake-outfall arrangement but no published notice to proceed or marine mobilisation. Ghubrah III is under construction against a Q1 2027 operating target, with its four-line marine geometry published but installed quantities still absent. Rabigh 4 has passed its EPC performance test without a located owner commercial-operation notice or final marine handover. Ras Mohaisen is in developer-classified construction, and Hawar has opened bids without an award. Taweelah RO is already operating, but its final as-built marine route is unpublished. The five-IWP programme is still screening developers, and Taweelah C lacks a defined physical marine package. Treating all ten as equivalent tender opportunities would misstate both timing and scope.

Finding 02

Port activity is centred on delivery and readiness

Aqaba's existing-asset concession has moved from a 2025 BOT expression of interest to formal Tender 27/A/2026, with clarifications due 20 July and proposals due 17 August. The closed document-request gate and scheduled site-visit window do not identify bidders, prove attendance, disclose condition, or establish an award. At Grand Faw, five berths are handed over, the owner reports the 23 km channel complete to 19.8 m, all immersed-tunnel elements are seated, and the 62 km road has final certification, while terminal handover, tunnel commissioning, marine services, operating responsibility, and sustained throughput remain separate gates. Tartous has crossed four evidenced states from memorandum to signed BOT, formal operating handover with harbour-tug service, and first-crane arrival; none yet proves planned dredging, achieved design depths, quay acceptance, all-crane commissioning, or realised capacity gains. At Khalifa Port, 2019 Capesize access is an operating baseline for a separate AED 84 million Newcastlemax berth programme, not evidence that the new scope is complete. Hamad Port's 2022 equipment-vessel call likewise remains distinct from the terminal's owner-reported 98% whole-project position in June 2026 and its still-open system handover.

Finding 03

One record still needs marine scope confirmation

Fifteen of the sixteen records have Confirmed support. Taweelah C stays at Reported because its power-project contract chain and owner-side cooling-water review are evidenced while the cooling basis, seawater route, physical marine scope and any dedicated procurement path remain unidentified.

Finding 04

Ruwais LNG separates energy demand from marine acceptance

The Ruwais LNG access package brings a different Middle East interface into the set. NMDC Group's marine award defines approximately 15 million cubic metres over a 5-kilometre, 245-metre-wide channel plus navigation aids. The February 2025 port notice establishes phased 24-hour dredging, two offshore disposal sites and environmental controls. The USD 5.5 billion plant EPC and 90% offtake cover do not establish final channel depth, accepted hydrography, disposal close-out, permanent navigation aids, jetty handover or marine operating approval.

Finding 05

Sequence is the common commercial variable

Marine work depends on a wider system in every record. Aqaba's bulk terminal carries concession condition risk, and Aqaba-Amman depends on financing and conveyance. Grand Faw depends on navigation access; Fujairah I on approved marine geometry and consortium procurement; Ghubrah III on four offshore lines, screening and hydraulic commissioning; Hassyan on staged commissioning; Hawar on three EPC interfaces; and Rabigh 4 on commercial operation and marine handover. Ras Mohaisen still needs intake-outfall acceptance, Taweelah RO needs operating-condition evidence, and Ruwais LNG needs channel, navigation-aid and jetty acceptance. The five-IWP programme still needs individual RFPs. Tartous, Taweelah C, Khalifa Port and Hamad Port each carry separate access, utility, berth or handover dependencies.

Included project evidence

Sixteen public records form the complete denominator for this edition. Open any record to review its detailed scope and full project source list.

Saudi Arabia / Confirmed

Ras Mohaisen Independent Water Project and Marine Intake/Outfall

Marine utilities / Construction

Project agreements, the L&T-Lantania EPC award and December 2025 financial close are evidenced, and ACWA's 3 March 2026 year-end report classifies the full 300,000 m3/day capacity as under construction; offshore mobilisation, installed intake or outfall geometry, first water and accepted production are not dated

8 structured project sources
UAE / Reported

Taweelah C IPP coastal utility interface

Marine utilities / Award

PPA and EPC signed; cooling-water review and existing-plant tie-ins exposed, marine route unconfirmed

10 structured project sources
UAE / Confirmed

Taweelah RO desalination intake and outfall system

Marine utilities / Completed

ACWA lists commercial operations from Q1 2024; the 200 MIGD plant is operating, while final as-built intake and outfall geometry is not publicly disclosed

6 structured project sources
Saudi Arabia / Confirmed

Saudi Arabia five-IWP developer qualification programme

Marine utilities / Prequalification

Sharakat is qualifying developers across five planned seawater reverse-osmosis projects; no individual RFP, award or project-specific marine package is public

8 structured project sources
Bahrain / Confirmed

Hawar SWRO offshore intake and outfall tender

Marine utilities / Tender

Two bids were opened for Hawar's separate offshore intake and outfall EPC package on 25 December 2025; EWA still lists the wider desalination scheme as a future project and no award is published

7 structured project sources
UAE / Confirmed

Ruwais LNG marine access and export terminal

Deep-water ports and energy terminals / Construction

Ruwais LNG remains under development for 2028 commercial operations; a February 2025 port notice placed the access-channel dredging in phased 24-hour execution, but no final marine acceptance record has been published

7 structured project sources
Saudi Arabia / Confirmed

Rabigh 4 IWP intake, outfall and storage system

Marine utilities / Commissioning

EPC performance test completed on 19 February 2026; SWPC commercial-operation confirmation remains unpublished

6 structured project sources

Inside this report

  1. Evidence base, inclusion rules, confidence treatment, and current project mix
  2. Port and energy-terminal delivery movement at Aqaba, Grand Faw, Tartous, Khalifa Port, Hamad Port and Ruwais LNG
  3. Marine utility interfaces at Aqaba-Amman, Fujairah I, Ghubrah III, Hassyan, Hawar, Rabigh 4, Ras Mohaisen, Taweelah C, Taweelah RO, and the five-IWP qualification programme
  4. Decision watchpoints for finance, package definition, construction completion, and commissioning

Method

How the snapshot was calculated

For the July edition, the denominator is the sixteen public IMWO records classified as Middle East on 20 July 2026. Projects must have an identifiable marine or coastal works interface backed by an owner, developer, lender, contractor, consultant, operator or public authority. Where several milestones are visible, only the latest recorded phase and its confidence level enter the figures. The result is a published evidence set rather than an estimate of the total addressable MENA market.

Data cutoff
20 July 2026
Denominator
16 public Middle East project records.
Confidence rule
Confirmed and Reported records are counted separately; Watching signals are excluded.
Limitations
Coverage reflects what project parties and public authorities have disclosed, so it is not a complete inventory of MENA marine works. Package values, scope, dates and procurement routes may change after the cutoff. An overall project award does not prove that a separate marine package has been procured, and signals supported only at watch level remain outside the calculations.

Sources used 61

Related records 32

Knowledge context

Related knowledge topics

Continue through the topic collections to compare this record with related projects, evidence guides, briefs, articles, reports, and performance records.

Continue through the evidence base

This report is a dated research snapshot, not an investment forecast, procurement recommendation, legal opinion, or delivery commitment. Review the linked project records and current briefings before acting on any individual project signal.

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