Business & Money | Wednesday 6 April, 2016 7:52 am |

Emir of Makkah Prince Khaled Al Faisal, Advisor to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, toured King Abdullah Port on Monday. He viewed the progress of work at the first port ever to be fully owned, developed and operated by the private sector, both in the Kingdom and the Middle East.

Prince Khaled was received by senior government officials and top executives of King Abdullah Port, as well as senior executives from the Economic Cities Authority, and members of the board of directors of the Ports Development Company, which owns and develops the port.

Also present were senior staff from Huta Marine Works Ltd. and the National Container Company, the primary operator of the port’s container terminal. Prince Khaled was presented with a detailed overview of the entire timeline of King Abdullah Port’s development, what has been achieved so far, and the multitude of potential opportunities it is foreseen to offer.

The Makkah Emir then toured government facilities at King Abdullah Port, such as buildings, shaded customs inspection yards, the single window building and the smart gates, which regulate the access and departure of trucks using computerized technology, expected to be in full swing by the fourth quarter of this year.

He then moved on to berth 4, where they observed the unloading of two container ships, owned by Maersk Line and MSC, two of the world’s biggest names in the global shipping industry.

They also saw Huta’s colossal dredgers, including one that is considered the world’s biggest dredger, digging out the seafloor to make room for new berths.

The visitors also saw the latest technologies and state-of-the-art equipment that enable King Abdullah Port to offer excellent comprehensive services not only to the world’s largest extant sea vessels, but also to anything that might be built in the future.

Prince Khaled then heard a detailed presentation on the King Abdullah Port’s Command and Control Center, where more than 90 Saudi women plan and supervise the port’s operations, as part of the King Abdullah Port’s vision to empower women and employ them in various sectors.

Abdullah Hameedadin, managing director of the Ports Development Company, expressed his gratitude for the continued support of Prince Khaled. “We, at King Abdullah Port, are delighted with this royal visit, which will surely inspire everyone working here to exert even more effort towards active participation in the Kingdom’s economic and commercial development,” he said.

For his part, Mohanud Helal, secretary general of the Economic Cities Authority, expressed ECA’s appreciation of the visit, saying: “This visit to King Abdullah Port by Prince Khaled comes as part of the continued support provided by the Kingdom’s leadership, reflecting just how strongly our leaders believe in the vital role the port can play in bolstering the Saudi economy, all within the framework of public-private partnerships, which are the core of the economic diversification program the Kingdom is witnessing. King Abdullah Port is a perfect example of this strategic partnership.”

He added: “The success the port has achieved and continues to achieve comes as a result of concerted efforts by all government agencies operating there, such as Saudi Customs, the Coast Guards, and many others.”

On the sidelines of the visit, the Ports Development Company signed a financing agreement with SABB and the Arab National Bank. It also signed an agreement with Huta Marine Works Ltd., for the latter to continue its development work at King Abdullah Port.

Earlier this year, King Abdullah Port announced that it had made a breakthrough achievement in 2015, its second full year of operation. Throughout last year, the port handled a record 1.3 million TEU, operating three berths through May, with a fourth berth having come online that month. The berths are expected to achieve even greater figures in coming years.

King Abdullah Port is in the process of readying two more berths by the end of this year, making a total of six, boosting its annual capacity to as much as four million TEU.

King Abdullah Port is also looking to bring online its first ro-ro berth, to be jointly operated with NYK, with an annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles per year. Plans are under way to open the first berth for bulk goods, of which it will be able to handle three million tons.