News – June 16, 2008
Dredging International is to build Dana off the coast of Ras-al-Khaimah. Belgium’s Dredging International has confirmed that it has been been awarded a contract to build a new artificial island, Dana, 7km into the Arabian Gulf, off the Emirate of Ras-al-Khaimah.
Construction of the €350 million project will commence in the next few weeks.
The order for Dana Island is the fourth such project that the Antwerp-based group has been awarded in the past three years, after the Pearl of the Gulf in Qatar, the Al Marjan artificial islands at Ras-al-Khaimah, and the Al Raha Beach waterfront development in Abu Dhabi.
The 4 million square metre island will measure five kilometres by six kilometres and add around 53 kilometres of shoreline to the coast of Ras-al-Khaimah.
Dana Island will be shaped in the form of a coral, or a jewel, and will include three main islands and ten leaf-shaped islets. The stone revetment and breakwater work will start shortly, and will be followed by dredging work.
Compared to the 2.7 million square metres of Al Marjan, the new Dana Island will be 50 per cent larger.
At seven kilometres off the coastit also extends much further into the Arabian Sea than Al Marjan.
An environmental consultant has been appointed to carry out an Environmental Impact Assessment, as well as environmental management and monitoring plans for the project.
Once the reclamation project is finished, Rakeen intends to build commercial, residential and leisure complexes on the island, which will ultimately accommodate 250,000 people.