Jebel Ali's container capacity to grow 27%

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

30 Jan 2008

Port operator DP World said container handling capacity at its flagship facility in Jebel Ali will increase by 27 per cent in February 2009 under the ongoing expansion that will satisfy annual double digit growth. The port of Jebel Ali achieved a throughput of 9.9 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent container units) in 2007, up 25 per cent from the previous year. Jebel Ali's current capacity of 11 million TEUs will grow in phases and will reach 14 million TEUs early next year, DP World UAE managing director Mohammad Al Muallem told reporters on Monday. "One million more will come in August, another million in October and the rest in February 2009," he said.Expansion The ongoing $1.5-billion Terminal 2 expansion project has already given an additional two million TEU capacity to Jebel Ali, which is seeing increased container traffic as rapid economic growth in the UAE and elsewhere in the region is boosting cargo volumes. The whole project has added 2,500 metres of berthing space at the port.Al Muallem said the port has enough land to launch further expansions. According to a blueprint, cap-acity at the port can be increased by five million TEUs each in 13 phases until 2030."Whenever we need it, we can sanction it [expansion]," Al Muallem said.Destination and transshipment cargoes are equally divided at Jebel Ali.DP World is shifting all cargo operations from the city's Port Rashid to the bigger Jebel Ali Port by August this year as the Port Rashid area is being redeveloped for urban real estate and other maritime activities like cruise tourism. The general cargo business will move to Jebel Ali by March and container terminal operations will be move later. Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) accounts of the bulk of container volume at Port Rashid, which has a total capacity of 1.4 million TEUs but utilises just half of it.DP World also manages Abu Dhabi's Mina Zayed and the container terminal at the Port of Fujairah. The company will also be operating the upcoming Abu Dhabi's Port Khalifa, which is slated to become the UAE's second-biggest port.According to Majid Yavary, a deputy director of marine projects at Abu Dhabi Ports Company, masterplanning has been completed and 2008 will "usher in a flurry of activities" towards completing the port, located 30 kilometres from Jebel Ali.A number of tenders, including the construction package, are expected to be offered by the middle of this year, officials said.