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Five international engineering firms are understood to have submitted final bids for a contract to expand the Vopak Horizon Fujairah terminal in Fujairah, MEED reports.

Fujairah-based construction company Audex, US firm Chicago Bridge & Iron, Italy’s Belleli Energy and India's Punj Lloyd and TATA Projects are all reported to have bid for the expansion deal.

According to executives at bidding firms, Vopak Horizon is expected to announce the winner for the engineering, procurement and construction contract in November 2009.

The Vopak Horizon Fujairah terminal, which has been awarded ISO-9002 and ISO-14001 certification, is designed to handle products including fuel oil, naphtha, gasoline, gas oil, jet fuel, kerosene, condensate, blend components and crude oil. It can accept tankers of up to 175,000 deadweight tonne (dwt).

The terminal incorporates a trestle-type jetty extending more than 1.5km into the sea, providing a draft of 18m, as well as a SPM capable of handling Suezmax ships.

The winning bidder will add 600,000 cubic metres of storage to expand the facility's current capacity of 1.5 million cubic metres to 2.1 million cubic metres. It will also build four new berths, bringing the total to 10.

Vopak had originally planned to add 1.2 million cubic meters and between four and six berths. However, the decision was later made to divide the development project into two phases following engineering and design studies.

Earlier this year, Vitol Group announced the sale of its stake in Vopak Horizon Fujairah Limited (VHFL) in order to strengthen its focus on its key strategic asset in the region, the Fujairah Refinery Company Limited (FRCL), which operates an 82,000 barrel per day refinery and a 461,000 cubic metre tank farm.

Vitol's shareholding was acquired by VHFL's existing shareholders, which include Vopak, Horizon, the Government of Fujairah and IPG.

Speaking earlier this year at a ceremony to celebrate the company’s 10 year anniversary, Frank Erkelens, president of Vopak Oil EMEA and Board Member of Vopak Horizon Fujairah Limited confirmed the company's commitment to continue the expansion of Fujairah as a key location for bulk liquid products in the region.

"As the leading tank terminal operator in Fujairah, we are dedicated to continue the growth of Fujairah as the strategic hub for bulk liquid products in the Middle East," Erkelens said.