Speakers at the Saudi Maritime Congress discussed the role ports play in a growing economy, as well as the challenges Saudi ports face in accommodating trade growth and changes in the maritime industry.
Andersen Goh, ceo of Saudi Global Ports, a joint venture between the Saudi Ministry of Finance and PSA International, started by highlighting Saudi Arabia's growing population. While much of the growth that has brought the Kingdom to 30m people will be from migrant workers, "as long as they consume, they create demand."
The Saudi Government continues to spend money on new projects, and this creates a demand for the import of raw materials and construction materials. As a response to growth in the Middle East, and pressure from cascading, capacity deployed on Middle East trades grew 16% between August 2013 and August 2014, according to Goh.
Saudi Global Ports will operate the second terminal at Dammam port where construction of phase one was recently completed.
Jay New, ceo of International Port Services Company (IPS), a joint venture between Hutchison Port Holdings and the Maritime Company for Navigation which has the Dammam container terminal concession at King Abdul Aziz Port, shared the steps taken at IPS to improve its operations, and its projects for the future.
The adoption of new technology to improve efficiency and the growing size of ships calling at the port have driven an increase in productivity, New commented. Cascading from the Asia-Europe trade has pushed ever larger ships into Dammam, from under 1,000 teu ships in 1997 up to an expected 14,000 teu by next year.
"Cranes have had to grow in height and reach to accommodate the larger vessels, and in December three of the newest cranes in the world will be delivered to the terminal. The first remote controlled cranes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia."
"Shipping lines want to come to port for the same length of time, but with more cargo; they want to come for the same length of time, but with larger vessels, so it is our job to look after those vessels." This pressure necessitates efficiency improvements, and in 2012 on the MSC Darwin, a top rate of 107 moves per hour (mph) was recorded and by 2014 on the port achieved 160 mph on the APL Santiago. These figures, New stressed, are among the best in the world for gateway vessels.
"Today Dammam port is a main line port for many ships calling in the gulf... 50% of the services coming into Dammam port today are mainline calls directly connecting the port of Dammam with international markets."
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.
