MAWANI, the Saudi Ports Authority, has announced the addition of Aladin Express DMCC's shipping service, Gulf-India Express 2 (GIX2), to King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam in a bid to boost direct trade and shipping between Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world, reports Bahrain's TradeArabia.
The port, which ranked 14th in the World Bank's Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) for 2021, had handled a record 199,609 TEU in August.
The new service will connect the capital of the kingdom's Eastern Province to the ports of Jebel Ali (UAE), Khalifa Bin Salman (Bahrain), Hamad (Qatar) and the Mundra port in India, Jebel Ali in the UAE, Khalifa Bin Salman in Bahrain, Hamad in Qatar, and Mundra in India every two weeks via the 1,740- TEU Green Ace.
This step is part of the developmental drive undertaken by Saudi ports to elevate ports and the maritime transport sector as well as upgrade its portfolio of services to importers, exporters, and shipping agents in what is an extension to Mawani's pursuit of strengthening the logistics industry through building world-class logistics parks within and beyond port areas, it stated.
Similarly, measures such as launching the Smart Ports initiative to deploy and accelerate 5G-enabled digital transformation in local ports fall in line with the goals of the National Transport and Logistics Strategy (NTLS) to position the kingdom as a global logistics hub linking three major continents.
Last December saw global shipping lines such as Pacific International Lines (PIL), Regional Container Lines (RCL), and China United Lines (CUL) start a weekly shipping service from China to King Abdulaziz Port in collaboration with Saudi Global Ports (SGP), said the report.
The port's competitiveness and expansionary plans were further bolstered with the addition of Shanghai and Singapore PIL service in June, enhancing importd and exports.