Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – The Saudi Ports Authority, Mawani, announced the completion of the Red Sea Gateway Terminal at Jeddah Islamic Port, leading to an increase in its capacity.
The completion of work at Jeddah Islamic Port’s North Container Terminal, in cooperation with the Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) with investments amounting to SAR1 billion ($0.26 billion), is expected to enhance the operational capabilities of the port, increase its capacity, and raise the efficiency of logistics services, Mawani said in a news release.
Minister of Transport and Logistic Services and Chairman of the Saudi Ports Authority Eng. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser attended the announcement ceremony. He highlighted that the completion of work at terminal will contribute to enhancing operational capabilities, increasing the port’s capacity of trade movement, exports, and supporting maritime transport, supply chains, and logistics services.
Al-Jasser emphasized the importance of the completion of infrastructure rehabilitation and the deepening project to enable the port to receive giant ships, achieve added value, and create promising investment opportunities that support the significant maritime capabilities of Saudi ports.
Mawani President Omar Hariri noted that the continuous development of the infrastructure at Jeddah Islamic Port is part of Mawani’s efforts to enhance the Kingdom’s leadership in the maritime sector, maximize its ability to stimulate the transportation and logistics industry, strengthen its economic and developmental role, and raise the Kingdom’s rank in international rankings.
Red Sea Gateway Terminal CEO Jens Floe said that this achievement reflects the strategic partnership between Mawani and RSGT. He confirmed the completion of integration work within a period not exceeding three years, contributing to increasing the terminal’s area from 700,000 sqm to 1,500,000 sqm, and increasing the terminal handling capacity from 2.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to 6.2 million TEUs.
The development work included the renovation of all buildings at the terminal, the inauguration of an advanced control room equipped with the latest technologies, the establishment of automated main gates for trucks entering and exiting the terminal.
The gateway terminal has larger capacity, is equipped with the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) feature, and uses 146 different types of equipment.
The rehabilitation of the infrastructure, covering more than 1.5 million sqm, and 11 berths of 2,600 meters equipped with 24 shore-to-ship cranes (STS), along with the completion of the deepening project, has expanded the northern channel of the Red Sea Gateway Terminal to welcome giant ships with a draft of up to 17 meters.
The development of Jeddah Islamic Port’s North Container Terminal is included in the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contract signed between Mawani and the RSGT, aligning with the National Transport and Logistics Strategy (NTLS) to make Jeddah Islamic Port a world-class leader, said the authority.