Jeddah's Red Sea Gateway Terminal opens for business

THE first phase of the newest container facility at Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Islamic Port (JIP), Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT), has been completed.

The event was marked by the arrival of United Arab Shipping Company's (UASC) 3,802-TEU Al Muttanabi assigned to the carrier's India-Mediterranean-US east coast Mina service.

According to a statement from the Red Sea Gateway, work on the SAR2 billion (US$510 million) green field container terminal at the northern end of JIP, had commenced in January 2008.

"The 1.8 million TEU, second generation terminal, built under a BOT [Build-Operate-Transfer] agreement with the Saudi Port Authority, is due to be completed by the third quarter of 2010," the statement said.

RSGT said that six tandem-lift, super postpanamax 85-tonne cranes, manufactured by Shanghai's ZPMC were delivered in 2009. Those ship-to-shore cranes were complemented by 20 advanced RTGs. An additional four cranes and six more RTGs are scheduled for delivery by June.

RSGT has also recently completed and transferred the ownership of its dedicated deepwater channel, with a depth of 16.5 metres and alongside turning basin with a depth of 18 metres, to the Saudi Ports Authority. "To be used solely by vessels calling at the facility, the channel is another one of the terminal's key features readying the container facility to serve the new generation of supersized vessels," the statement from RSGT said.

"Nearly 73 per cent of the total container throughput of the country passes through it gates. The new terminal promises the start of a new era for the JIP, adding 45 per cent to its annual capacity, equivalent to 1.8 million TEU."

(Source: www.schednet.com)