[4] In the 1990s, after a period of local restoration and infrastructural works, interest increased in developing Abu Dhabi's nearby township of Mussafah as an industrial center.

Located off the south-western shoreline of Hudayriat Island, the 53 km channel was built to better serve the Mussafah Industrial Zone and the future ICAD areas.

[7] The port facility provides for cargo operations and warehousing for a wide range of clients.

[11] The banks at the eastern end of the Musaffah Channel reportedly have "Pleistocene reworked dune deposits, unconformably overlain by Holocene carbonates and sabkha evaporates".

[13] The first stage would be a 270 kilometres (170 mi) freight line, linking Ruwais to the Shah gas field, in cooperation with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.