According to SEPCO Electric Power Construction Corporation (hereinafter referred to as SEPCO), on December 29, 2025, SEPCO officially received the Mechanical Completion Acceptance Notice issued by Saudi Aramco, marking the successful completion of the overall mechanical completion of the King Salman International Integrated Port Facilities Project (hereinafter referred to as the Saudi King Port project). This global super shipyard, which embodies Saudi Arabia’s “Vision 2030”, has been fully handed over to the owner and entered the warranty period.
The Saudi King Port project is a flagship project of Saudi Arabia’s “Vision 2030” national reform plan and a model of the Belt and Road Initiative. The project started in December 2019 and was personally laid and named by King Salman.
It is understood that SEPCO won the bid for the Saudi King Port Project in early 2019, with a contract value of over 3 billion US dollars. This project represents the largest cash-funded project secured by PowerChina since its establishment. Undertaken by SEPCO and Sinohydro under the EPC turnkey contract model, SEPCO leads the contract execution and takes full charge of the entire project lifecycle, covering design, procurement, and construction.
As the EPC contractor for the core bid section, SEPCO completed the construction of 277 buildings (facilities), the installation of 146 modular substations and 1,366 pieces of various types of equipment, the excavation of 8.905 million cubic meters of earthwork, the pouring of 2.17 million cubic meters of concrete, the installation of 57,000 tonnes of steel structures, the laying of 140,000 meters of non-pressurized pipelines, as well as the installation of 10,476 kilometers of cables and optical fibers during the construction period of the Saudi King Port Project.
According to SEPCO, the Saudi King Port project in Saudi Arabia has set several world records: covering an area of 11.25 square kilometers, it is the world’s largest super shipyard; the giant gantry crane has a net lifting height of 113.5 meters, topping the global list for lifting height; the combined lifting weight reaches 2,100 tons, ranking among the world’s top lifting capabilities; the ship lift system has a lifting capacity of 25,000 tons, the largest of its kind in the world; and the total length of the wharf is 7 kilometers, breaking the world record for the longest wharf.
In addition to SEPCO, Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery (ZPMC) is also a key participant in the Saudi King Port project in Saudi Arabia. It is responsible for constructing the core equipment for this “super shipyard,” including the shipyard gates for Dry Docks No. 2, 4, and 5; the ship lift system; launching barges; pontoons and cranes.
According to public information, the main construction contents of the Saudi King Port project include: 3 ship repair docks, 3 shipbuilding docks, 1 offshore engineering dock, 2 offshore engineering slipways, 1 5,000-ton ship lift, 5 horizontal slipways, 5 breakwater quays, and 10 shoreline quays, with a total quay length of 4,100 meters. The project covers a total area of approximately 515 hectares and includes four major production areas: a ship repair area, an engineering vessel repair and construction area, a large shipbuilding area, and an offshore engineering equipment area, as well as a living area, with a total building area of 1.03 million square meters.
Once completed, Saudi Arabia will have the capacity to produce 3 very large crude carriers, 15 other types of vessels, and multiple offshore drilling and operation platforms annually. It will also be able to complete the repair and maintenance of hundreds of vessels of various types, becoming the world’s largest shipbuilding and marine engineering equipment manufacturing and maintenance base.
The Saudi King Port project in Saudi Arabia is operated by International Maritime Industries (IMI). In 2024, IMI began building offshore drilling platforms at this “super shipyard,” and in 2025, it received orders for jack-up drilling platforms and bulk carriers.
IMI was established in 2017 as a joint venture led by Saudi Aramco, in partnership with Saudi Arabian National Shipping Line (Bahri), UAE-based drilling rig manufacturer Lamprell, and South Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries.