Saudi Arabia's Dammam Port Handles Record TEUs as Plans Expansion

Saudi Arabia marked an important milestone at its King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam as it works to expand its operations. 

Saudi Global Ports reported that it handled a record of 12,691 TEUs while servicing the Cosco Shipping Aquarius in the port on June 24. This set a new record for the highest number of containers on a single vessel handled by Saudi Global Ports along the Eastern Provinces of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Operated by Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line (OOCL), the Cosco Shipping Aquarius is one of the largest vessels in the world. The ship has a length of 400 meters and can carry up to 19,273 TEUs.

The current facilities at the King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam - file photo

The King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam is the Kingdom's main port on the Arabian Gulf and a gateway through which cargo reaches the eastern and central provinces of the Kingdom. It also provides services for the oil industry.

A series of new initiatives was recently announced designed to expand the port’s capabilities. In April, SPG said that it would invest $1.9 billion in a 30-year deal to develop and modernize the King Abdul Aziz Port into a mega container hub. The goal is to increase capacity to an annual 7.5 million TEUs, more than double the existing container handling capacity. 

SGP also recently launched several digitization efforts at the port including integrated transactional, payment, and monitoring activities onto a single online platform for port users. It has also integrated delivery and collection of containers into an appointment system to improve traffic management around the port.