International port projects in the Ihavandhippolhu natural atoll in the north and the formerly environmentally protected island of Gaadhoo in Laamu atoll will be announced in the near future, Economic Development Minister Mohamed Saeed has said.
The development of the two international ports were pledges of President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu. The projects were also included in the plan for his first 100 days in office.
Saeed, who was also the Economic Development Minister in former President Abdulla Yameen's government, said in a post on X on Monday that the port to be developed near Gaadhoo and the Ihavandhippolhu integrated development and logistics project will be announced very soon.
A project to develop a new commercial port in the Greater Male' region will also go ahead, Saeed said.
Gaadhoo project
Gaadhoo was previously an inhabited island. The island's residents were relocated to Laamu Fonadhoo in 2016.
Gaadhoo's southern and western beaches have long been noted as turtle nesting and hatching grounds. Six types of seagrass and 91 types of reef fish were recorded in the seagrass beds that surround the island. The beautiful island also has a freshwater mangrove.
The Huvadhoo sea between Laamu atoll and Huvadhoo atoll is a one and a half degree channel through which a large number of cargo ships pass.
Muizzu pledged to develop Gaadhoo with the capacity to refuel and provide other services to container ships that travel through the channel, and to develop a resort in the lagoon between the island and Fonadhoo.
Ihavandhippolhu project
The northernmost atoll of Ihavandhippolhu lies on the main shipping lane for financial transactions between east and west in the Indian Ocean. More than 300 large cargo boats pass through the lane every day.
All previous governments planned to develop an international port in the region. A project called "i-Havan" was designed during former President Yameen's government but no significant work was carried out.
Efforts were also made during former President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih's government. In August this year, the State Trading Organization (STO) enlisted Qatar's UrbaCon Trading & Contracting Company for a bunkering project to begin refuelling services for large cargo ships.
A national strategic petroleum reserve was also to be built in the port city to be developed in Ihavandhippolhu as part of the project. Along with bunkering, shipping agency, crew change, ship handling or repairing and servicing, and spare parts were also to be provided. Muizzu's pledge was also to continue the project.
