COVER STORY KHALIFA PORT
15m
MAXIMUM CONTAINER CAPACITY OF KHALIFA PORT, WITH ALL QUAY WALLS CONSTRUCTED.
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us to extend it further out into the ocean. If we reach 15 million containers by 2030 that would get you in today’s terms in the leagues of Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. Obviously by 2030 I am sure they will be a lot bigger but it helps to give you a sense of scale,” Douglas explains, adding: “The common denominator with our tenants at Kizad is that they need to import big volumes of raw materials and they quite often export their products right the way around the world.” Creating the facilities to support this vision required some large scale ambition.
LEFT TO RIGHT: How the quay wall developed from 2011 to the present day.
The on and off shore port has the first and third longest bridges in the UAE; the six largest ship to shore cranes in the world; the world’s longest conveyor belt at 14km; a 3.2km quay wall, that will be supported by a further two such structures as the port increases capacity; all built around a 35 square kilometre coral reef, that is protected by a breakwater that stretches 8km.
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MIDDLE EAST
“MY EXPERIENCE IS LOTS OF PEOPLE ARE ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE THINGS THAT DON’T MATTER THAT MUCH AND NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE THINGS THAT REALLY MATTER”
OCTOBER 2012
“This is a deep water port with an industrial zone, or even an industrial zone with a deep water port. It’s a link piece of economic strategy and that’s why Khalifa Port will continue to develop,” he continues. MEGA-PROJECT, MICRO MANAGEMENT Such a huge development demands a number of specialist project partners, all working on various elements in tandem. To logistically align that effort is the stuff of nightmares, but under Douglas’s leadership every firm working on the project was bound to its responsibilities and deadlines by Douglas’ no nonsense approach that ensured delivery could be timed to the hour. It was a radical strategy for a region known for its “insha’alla” attitude, but it was one Douglas deemed necessary to ensure layers of clarity and accountability. “The trick is to try and remove some of the mystique of project management by framing ambition,” he says, drawing on professional experience that has seen him work on projects such as Heathrow Airport. “My experience is lots of people are accountable for the things that don’t matter that much and not a lot of people are accountable for the things that really matter. “What they try first is the sophisticated book of excuses and then the two stroke motor that goes something like this ‘but but but