The Saudi Ports Authority (MAWANI) announced on 10 January the laying of the foundation stone for upgrading and developing two container terminals at King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam.
This development comes under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) concession signed with Saudi Global Ports (SGP) valued at over $1.86 billion.
The launch ceremony was attended by President of MAWANI, Omar Hariri, Saudi Global Ports SGP Chairman, Abdullah Al-Zamil, alongside senior several other logistics and maritime executives.
The concession will work on refurbishing berths and facilities across the port’s first container terminal alongside expanding berths and overhauling the container yard within the second container terminal to enable the Arabian Gulf hub to handle giant containerships.
The development works will also add a custom-built sandbox to test cutting-edge technologies and conceptualise new processes before going online.
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The project is expected to raise the Port’s overall capacity by 120 per cent to 7.5 million TEU and strengthen the nation’s supply chains, boost its foreign trade, and improve the Kingdom’s rank in global indices.
The project is also prospected to generate over 4,000 jobs in the local economy.
2022 represented a monumental year for King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam and operator SGP with record-breaking annual performances across various indicators yielding the port’s highest container throughput in its history at over two million TEU.
