JEDDAH, 23 June 2006 — The handling capacity of the Jeddah Islamic Port (JIP) will increase from 3.5 million to 5 million containers following a three-year SR1.66-billion expansion project that is scheduled to begin soon, the chairman of the Saudi Commercial and Export Development Co. (Tusdeer) announced yesterday.
Tusdeer Chairman Mohammed Ahmad Zainal unveiled details of the proposed new 400,000-square-meter container terminal that would be located at the northern end of the JIP, saying the project would increase the port’s handling capacity by 45 percent. The new deep-water terminal would also be able to handle super cargo tankers, he added.
Zainal said that the volume of containers handled by the JIP has increased by 28 percent during the past three years.
“The Jeddah Islamic Port is strategically located on the international shipping route passing through the Red Sea and so the container terminal will play a key role in the development of export-based industry in the Kingdom keeping pace with its rapid developmental strides,” the Tusdeer chairman added.
The Saudi Seaports Authority signed an agreement with the Tusdeer, a subsidiary of the Saudi Industrial Services Company (SISCO), last month to develop and operate the container terminal.
“The project is in line with the vision of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to encourage the private sector to play an effective role in national development,” the Tusdeer chairman noted.
The terminal would achieve integration with the east-west land bridge connecting the proposed massive Saudi railway project currently in the works.
Zainal also said the project would create new job opportunities for Saudi youths in addition to activating the re-export sector as a regional logistic support center.
