In a bid to set up an Integrated Logistics Park at the Jeddah Islamic Port in Saudi Arabia, the global integrator of container logistics, A P Moller - Maersk, on Sunday, signed an agreement with Saudi Ports Authority - Mawani, committing to an investment of $ 136 million over a period of 25 years.
The agreement was signed in the presence of the Minister of Transport and Logistics, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Authority, Engineer Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, Managing Director of Maersk West & Central Asia Richard Morgan, and several officials of related sectors. The agreement was signed by the President of the Saudi Ports Authority, Omar bin Talal Hariri, and the Managing Director of Maersk Saudi Arabia, Mohammad Shihab.
The greenfield project spread over an area of 205,000 sq. m. will be the first of its kind at the Jeddah Islamic Port, offering an array of solutions to connect and simplify importers’ supply chains and exporters in the country. Maersk will also be investing in renewable energy to power this facility and eventually achieve carbon-neutrality. The project is expected to create more than 2,500 direct and indirect jobs in Saudi Arabia, a press release from Maersk said.
Maersk is also charting its path to make the facility carbon-neutral eventually. The warehouses, cold storages, and office buildings will all be powered with renewable solar energy. Even the yard machinery, including forklifts, reach stackers, empty container handlers, trucks and other vehicles deployed for cargo movement, will be electric.
Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Islamic Port sits strategically on the Red Sea coast, connecting the international shipping route between the east and the west. With over five million Twenty-feet Equivalent Units (TEUs) of containers flowing in and out of Jeddah Islamic Port, it is the largest port in terms of volume and cargo handling in Saudi Arabia and second-largest in GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries. Over 2.5 million TEUs tranship through the Jeddah Islamic Port every year. The port also connects to the hinterland through a strong road and rail network.
Al-Jasser, said, “The authority’s new strategy supports the maritime transport journey in the Kingdom and enables the authority to continue developing a sustainable and prosperous maritime transport system that supports the Kingdom’s social and economic ambitions and contributes to achieving the ambitious goals of Vision 2030.”
Morgan said, “We are building an innovative, digital and technologically-advanced logistics infrastructure on the foundations of our strong network of global shipping and logistics & services to create value for customers in the region. Our ambition is not only to connect and simplify our customers’ supply chains, but also be a catalyst in the growth of trade and economies through our customer-centric solutions”.
Hariri said, “The strategic partnership between the authority and Maersk is an important step to achieve our ambition for Jeddah Islamic Port to become among the top ten ports in the world by 2030, with the volume of container handling reaching 18 million TEUs.”