The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) has commenced works for upgrading and developing two box terminals at King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam under the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) concession signed with Saudi Global Ports (SGP) valued at over US$1.8 billion.
The launch ceremony was attended by Omar Hariri, president of Mawani, and Eng. Abdullah Al-Zamil, SGP chairman, alongside senior logistics and maritime executives.
The project is expected to increase King Abdulaziz Port’s overall container capacity by 120% to 7.5 million TEUs and strengthen Saudi Arabia’s supply chains, boost its foreign trade, and improve the country’s rank in global indices.
The project is also expected to optimise port operations and modernise infrastructure to build a “booming and sustainable maritime ecosystem” in Saudi Arabia.
According to a Mawani’s announcement, the concession will work on refurbishing berths and facilities across the port’s first container terminal besides expanding berths and overhauling the container yard within the second container terminal to enable the Arabian Gulf hub to handle giant container ships.
The development works will also add a custom-built sandbox to test new technologies and conceptualise new processes before going online.
Mawani noted that 2022 represented a monumental year for King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam and its operator SGP with record-breaking annual performances across various indicators yielding the port’s highest container throughput in its history at over 2 million TEUs.
