A consortium led by Hyundai Engineering & Construction will build 16 new berths in Singapore to enable the island state to handle growing demand for container capacity, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore said.

The project will add 14 million TEUs to Pasir Panjang terminal's container handling capacity.

The authority said work on the new berths will commence in the last quarter of this year and will take about six years to complete.

The other consortium partners for the US$1.27 billion project include Penta Ocean Construction, Koon Construction & Transport and Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors.

Hyundai holds a 50 percent stake in the consortium.