North terminal at Jeddah port wins forum acclaim

KUWAIT: The first international forum for sea transport which was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, from March 23 till March 25 has chosen north container terminal at Jeddah port as the board containers terminal in the Arab ports for the year 2007.

Kuwait Gulf Link Co owns 20 per cent share in the Gulf Shipping Contracting Co that runs the terminal.

The forum came at a time where the shipping industry at Saudi Arabia is going through continuous development. The size of cargo moving through this port is rising and the participation of the private sector in building and running seaports is most important in sea transportation chain.

The Saudi Arabian government allowed the private sector to invest in developing the seaports at Saudi Arabia to achieve quality shift in the level of equipment, production and performance.

The best example is that the Jeddah seaport, which was No 56 in 2001 among the best international seaports, became No 27 in 2005.

Gulf Shipping and Contracting Co is a joint venture between Kuwait investors and Saudi investors, who intend to increase the capacity of the port by investing 543 million Saudi rials ($144.8 million) to reach 2.5 million TEU by the end of 2009 instead of the current 1 million TEU (twenty foot containers units). To achieve this goal, it has been agreed between port authorities and Gulf Shipping and contracting, the investor of the northern container terminal will expand the terminal by adding three more ber

ths as from May 2008.

Source: Kuwaittimes