DAMMAM, 24 February 2004 — The proposed passenger terminal at King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam will be operated and maintained by the private sector.
According to the port director, Naeem Al-Naeem, the port authority will float a tender for the passenger berth. The decision may take two months, he said.
The Port Authority decided to start a passenger ferry between Dammam and Dubai. Al-Naeem heads a committee finalizing the plan which may submit its report in a month, according to port sources.
Al-Naeem said there will be two platforms at the passenger terminal, each 240 meters long. The terminal already exists. According to a rough estimate the operation may cost between SR10 million and SR15 million. The company winning the contract will be responsible for the entire operation except for immigration and customs.
Each passenger using the terminal will be charged SR10 while cars will be charged at SR200. It was not clear whether the charges will be for arriving or departing passengers or both.
The port authority estimates that an ordinary ferry will cover the distance between Dubai and Dammam in 12-15 hours while express ships may take just seven to eight hours.
The port will initially handle passenger ferries between Dammam and Dubai and later expand to other GCC countries.
Meanwhile, Al-Naeem estimated that this year the income of King Abdul Aziz Port may go up by 10 percent. Last year it registered an increase of seven percent.
The total income last year, he said, was SR457 million against an expenditure of SR118 million. In all the port handled 634,000 ships, 40 percent (235,000) of them from Dubai.
The Kingdom’s ports are being privatized.
