Ras Malé Reclamation Slows as Fuel Costs Rise

Land reclamation at Ras Malé slowed down in mid-2026 because of rising fuel costs, President Mohamed Muizzu said in June. He put progress at about 60%, and acknowledged that the project would not meet its original completion date. He still expected the whole reclamation to be finished within 2026.

What the President said

According to Dredging Today's report of 29 June 2026:

• About 60% of the reclamation was complete.
• The work had faced a temporary slowdown because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, with rising fuel costs the main reason.
• Operations were restarting.
• The project couldn't meet its originally scheduled completion date, but the entire reclamation would be finished within 2026.

The report described the project as 11 sites totalling 1,009 hectares. The current contractor is the state-owned Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL), using the Cristóbal Colón, a dredger operated by the Belgian firm Jan De Nul that can carry 46,000 cubic metres of sand at a time.

The report didn't say how long the work had been slowed, how many sites were affected, or how much higher fuel prices had added to the cost. We haven't found official figures on any of those points.

Why fuel matters

Large hopper dredgers like the Cristóbal Colón suck up sand from the seabed, carry it to the site and pump it ashore, cycle after cycle. The work runs around the clock and burns a great deal of fuel, so a jump in fuel prices raises the cost of every hectare. The Maldives relies on imported fuel, which leaves projects like Ras Malé exposed to global oil prices.

Another missed deadline

The June slowdown wasn't the first time Ras Malé's schedule slipped:

• At the launch in December 2023, the reclamation was one of the new government's first 100-day pledges.
• The first contractor, Sri Lanka's CMC, left in 2024 after reclaiming 29 hectares.
• A second, China Railway Construction Corporation, was given 18 months to reclaim 352 hectares from July 2024. HDC ended its contract in July 2025 because the work hadn't progressed as required.
• In November 2025, the government expected reclamation to finish in March or April 2026.
• In December 2025, MACL aimed to finish by early 2026.
• In June 2026, the President said the original date would be missed, but the reclamation would finish within 2026. That makes at least the fourth target date for the reclamation.

Each change of plan pushed the finish date back. The arrival of the Cristóbal Colón in late 2025 sped the work up sharply: MACL reported Site A at 84% complete in February 2026, about ten weeks after it started there.

The ships behind the pace

The dredgers working in 2026 are much bigger than the ones that started the project. China Harbour's Jun Yang 1, which arrived in August 2025, carries 21,000 cubic metres per load, about twice the capacity of the earlier vessels. MACL's Cristóbal Colón, working since December 2025, carries 46,000. Bigger ships move far more sand per trip, which is why progress jumped in early 2026. But each trip also uses more fuel, so a rise in fuel prices hits a big dredging operation hard.

A pattern of pauses

This isn't the first time Ras Malé's work has stopped and started. After the launch in December 2023, the work stalled. It restarted at Site F in November 2024, after a pause of about six months. In July 2025, HDC ended its contract with CRCC because the work hadn't kept pace, and new contractors had to bring in their own ships. Each pause pushed the finish date back. According to the President, the 2026 slowdown was different, because it was caused by costs rather than contract problems.

Other pressures on the schedule

Fuel isn't the only issue facing the dredging. In December 2025, the Environmental Regulation Authority said it had received complaints about dredging outside permitted areas and work during sand-mining alerts, and warned of legal action without naming anyone. In February 2026, satellite images showed sediment plumes from dredging for Ras Malé and Hulhumalé spreading across large parts of South Malé Atoll, and dive operators and bait fishermen complained about the effects. The cost of earlier contractors is also still being settled: in August 2026, HDC's board accepted a US$9.4 million claim from CRCC for work done before its contract ended.

Where the sites stood

The slowdown came after a burst of fast progress. The latest published site figures at the time were:

• Site J (29 ha): finished, and ready for coastal protection works.
• Site A (137.5 ha): 84.36% in February 2026, worked by MACL with the Cristóbal Colón.
• Site C (190 ha): 20.09% in November 2025, worked by China Harbour.
• Site L: 25.53% in November 2025, part of a 395-hectare group with Sites D, F and G.
• Sites B, E, H, I and K: no published figure.

Most site figures were months old by June, so the President's 60% figure was the best guide to the overall picture. Our site-by-site guide has the full details.

Why the deadline matters

A finished reclamation is the starting point for everything that follows: coastal protection, roads, power, water and sewerage, and then homes. The government has promised 15,000 plots in the first round of Housing for All and 25,000 from Ras Malé in total. It has also signed commercial terms with Eagle Hills for a waterfront district on about 500 hectares. Every month of delay to the land pushes those plans back.

Since June

By late September 2026, the President said reclamation had reached about 70% and would be complete by the end of the year. He also said the state-owned MTCC had secured a much larger dredger, due before the end of 2026. Read the latest in Ras Malé reclamation reaches 70%.

How the government responded

The government's answer has been more dredging capacity. In September 2026, the President said the state-owned MTCC had secured a trailing suction hopper dredger three times larger than its existing vessel, due before the end of the year. He described the Middle East conflict as the biggest obstacle to the government's development projects. He also said work on utilities and roads at Ras Malé would start before the end of 2026. Read more in the dredgers building Ras Malé.

What it means for residents

Delays to reclamation push back everything that follows: utilities and roads, the handover of housing plots, and building. The Housing for All scheme received 22,575 applications for land plots, and many of those plots are to come from Ras Malé. Our Ras Malé timeline tracks every deadline, and the progress tracker shows the latest official figures.