Work is now expected to get underway next year on the Solomon Islands international seaport in Honiara, following a dispute that nearly put the work at stake.
The $26 million US dollar, 200-metre wharf, will be funded by Japan, who signed documents with Solomons officials behind closed doors on Friday.
The Solomon Star reports this is a departure from the official Japanese tradition of signing projects in public, with media not invited to witness the ceremony due to recent controversy surrounding the board of the Solomon Islands Ports Authority.
The board was sacked by the Minister for Infrastructure Development, Seth Gukuna, after it refused to reinstate the Ports Authority chief executive officer, William Barile, whom it had terminated earlier in the year.
This put the project at risk, after a Japanese delegation arrived last month to sign the project's documents, but could not do so, because there was no board.
It's understood Mr Gukuna and Finance minister Rick Hou signed on behalf of the government.
