President Dr Mohamed Muizzu has described the relocation of Malé Commercial Port to Thilafushi as the most important project currently underway to expand the Maldivian economy, saying the development will significantly increase trade capacity, improve productivity and create greater opportunities for businesses.
Speaking during a visit to Thilafushi to inspect progress on the project, the President said work was advancing successfully with the involvement of government institutions, State-owned companies and other parties supporting the development.
Muizzu said the first phase of the new commercial port is scheduled to be completed and inaugurated on November 11, 2027, when port operations are expected to begin shifting from Malé to Thilafushi.
The new facility will occupy around 60 hectares and provide approximately four times the space available at the existing commercial port in Malé.
According to the President, the substantial increase in capacity will open new opportunities for businesses while improving the efficiency of the country’s trade and logistics network.
He described the relocation as particularly important for increasing national productivity and supporting the expansion of businesses, arguing that modern port infrastructure is essential for the country’s broader economic development.
Construction has already reached several milestones. The first 100 metres of the quay wall dedicated to domestic vessels have been completed, while land levelling and road construction are progressing.
Around 40 percent of backfilling work for the reclaimed area surrounding the internal quay has also been completed.
Precast concrete blocks required for the quay wall are being produced at the project site, while the procurement of machinery and other equipment is underway. Authorities are also working to select a contractor for the construction of terminal buildings.
The first phase of the Thilafushi port is designed to handle approximately 390,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs, annually.
Once the entire development is completed, the government expects annual container handling capacity to increase to as much as 1.8 million TEUs.
The port will initially feature a 375-metre quay for international container vessels, designed to accommodate ships with a draft of up to 14.6 metres. The international quay can eventually be extended to around 1.4 kilometres as capacity requirements increase.
Plans also include a separate quay of more than two kilometres for domestic vessels, providing dedicated infrastructure for cargo transported between the Greater Malé region and islands across the country.
Maldives Ports Limited estimates that the new infrastructure could dramatically reduce the time required to handle international cargo vessels.
Loading and unloading operations at the existing Malé Commercial Port can currently take between seven and 14 days. With the first 375 metres of the international quay operational in Thilafushi, authorities expect vessel turnaround time to fall to around two days.
Two ship-to-shore cranes and one mobile harbour crane are also planned to be operational when the new port opens, allowing containers to be handled more efficiently.
The relocation is intended to address longstanding capacity constraints at Malé Commercial Port, where limited land and its location within the densely populated capital have restricted opportunities for significant expansion.
Moving the country’s principal commercial port to Thilafushi will provide considerably more space for container handling, warehousing and other logistics operations while allowing the facility to expand as trade volumes increase.
The project is also expected to reduce the movement of heavy cargo vehicles through central Malé and allow land currently occupied by port-related activities to be used for other purposes.
Plans to develop a larger commercial port outside Malé have been pursued under successive administrations. The previous administration had moved forward with plans for a new international commercial port at Gulhifalhu before the current government decided to relocate the development to Thilafushi.
The Muizzu administration has since made completion of the Thilafushi port one of its major infrastructure priorities, with the President previously assuring that a fully equipped facility would begin operations by November 2027.
During his inspection, Muizzu thanked officials, employees and project teams involved in the development, acknowledging their work towards delivering what he described as a critical project for the country’s economic expansion.
