President Mohamed Muizzu has said a new trailing suction hopper dredger, three times larger than MTCC’s existing Mahaa Jarraafu, is expected to arrive in the Maldives by the end of the year to accelerate land reclamation projects.

MTCC’s Mahaa Jarraafu has a hopper capacity of 3,700 cubic metres per load and can dredge up to 11,000 cubic metres within 24 hours. The vessel can operate at depths of up to 50 metres below sea level.

He said the government’s broader objective was to make MTCC more self-reliant rather than relying primarily on government payments.

As part of the effort, the government is integrating the Road Development Corporation (RDC) into MTCC to streamline road development operations, bringing additional machinery into the company.