Derince Port will be expanded to three times its current size with an additional investment of $350 million. The port was designed by Safi Holding after winning a tender where it competed against 14 international companies. A total of nearly $1 billion, including the tender price, will be invested in the port project, which is slated to be completed in four years. Derince Port, which belonged to Turkish State Railways (TCDD) and was transferred to Safi Holding in return for a privatization cost of $543 million, is poised to become one of the largest ports in Turkey. Safi Holding has initiated work to expand the 450,000-square-meter port area to 1.2 billion square meters with sea embankments and additional docks. The company will invest an additional $350 million to complete the project. Safi Holding CEO Hakan Safi said the British firm is working on a master plan, adding that the holding company has applied to receive an Environmental Impact Assessment (ÇED) report for embankment and docking investments. Safi also stressed that the construction work on the port will be initiated with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's participation in March 2016. The first phase of the project is scheduled to be completed in 2017 and the second phase is planned to be completed in 2019. "We will have invested nearly $1 billion, including the tender cost, in the Derince Port," he said. Adding that a linking road, which will be constructed between the third Bosporus bridge and the Derince Port in 2016, will expand trade volume as well, Safi said they aim to directly take cargo to businesses by using a "home-to-home" transport model and wagon ramp in the long-run. According to Safi, big ships will easily be able to berth at the port, which will be capable of accommodating 1.5 million cars thanks to multi-story car parks to be constructed. Currently, 300 employees are working in the port and this figure is expected to rise to 3,000 when the project is completed, which will make it the largest international port in Turkey and the third largest one in Europe.