Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Port witnessed a surge of around 14% in its container volumes during the first half of 2017, reaching 821,694 TEU, compared to 720,483 TEU seen a year earlier.
The port also recorded a 14% rise in the number of vessels received during the same period, handling 398 vessels compared to 349 in the first half of 2016.
In its report on the merchandise exports and imports of the Kingdom, the General Authority for Statistics revealed that the imports of King Abdullah Port increased by 60.7% in May 2017, increasing the value of imports to SAR 1.27 million (USD 340.5 million) compared to SAR 795 million (USD 211.9 million) in May 2016.
“These numbers clearly indicate the success of King Abdullah Port as the latest infrastructure mega project in the Middle East,” Eng. Abdullah M. Hameedadin, Managing Director of the Ports Development Company, said.
“We are cooperating with all relevant entities to support the port’s progress and finalize all its facilities. For example, we recently announced the completion of building and equipping the central operating room for monitoring and linking together the x-ray customs inspection systems in the port. In addition, we also covered all customs inspection areas with a wireless network utilizing the latest global technology,” Hameedadin added.
“The project was successfully delivered to the Saudi Customs at King Abdullah Port, making the port a pioneer in equipping the central operations center and activating the 24-hour container inspection initiative,” he concluded.