HONG Kong's Hutchison Ports celebrated the inauguration of Jazan in Saudi Arabia with a visit from the royal commission.
In its first phase the port consists of three industrial berths, a Single Point Mooring (SPM) facility for the Saudi Aramco refinery, and three commercial berths for containers, general cargo and bulk goods.
The President of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, HE Eng Khalid Al-Salem said that the Port is one of the most critical enablers supporting industrial growth at The Port of Jazan City for Primary and Downstream Industries (JCPDI Port), reports UK's Seatrade Maritime News.
Eric Ip, group managing director of Hutchison Ports, said: "We have been in Saudi Arabia for 22 years, and it is a very important market for Hutchison Ports. Today's ceremony marks a new chapter for us in the Kingdom and we look forward to working closely with the Royal Commission to make Hutchison Ports Jazan a success and help JCPDI reach its full potential and contribute to the Saudi Vision 2030."
The port will use remote-controlled cranes and state of the art systems for handling containers and bulk goods to enable electronic transactions. Training programmes will be run for local talent, said Hutchison Ports Jazan CEO, Charlie Darazi.
A berth depth of 16.5m will allow containerships of over 21,000 TEU to call the port, and bulk ships with capacities over 100,000 tonnes.
The Port has a total berth length of 1,250m for containers, bulk and general cargo, with a design capacity of one million TEU per year and around four million tonnes of cargo, in addition to a liquid terminal for oil tankers of Saudi Aramco.
Andy Tsoi, Hutchison Ports managing director for Middle East and Africa said that JCPDI Port represents an exciting new chapter. He added that from a strategic standpoint, JCPDI sits at the crossroads of the busy east-west trade lane and the rapidly growing north-south trade. JCPDI also has the potential to be the Kingdom's first port of call from East Asia.
Minister of Investment, HE Eng Khalid Al-Falih said that Saudi economy was booming, with 11 per cent growth in Q1 2022 and growth of 21.5 per cent in its Industrial Production Index (IPI).
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