The Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) and Abu Dhabi Terminals (ADT) has held a half-day seminar for the trucking industry ahead of the opening of the new Khalifa Port Container Terminal in Abu Dhabi on September 1.
The seminar shared the latest updates and procedures that will directly impact trucking companies and clearing agents which will use the port. It was presided over by Capt. Mohamed Al Shamisi, executive vice president, Ports’ Unit, ADPC and Martijn Van de Linde, CEO, ADT.
The new port will be the first semi-automated one in the MENA region. The automated procedures should increase efficiency as well as helping local trucking companies and clearing agents with greater opportunities to access world markets, said Al Shamisi.
“Khalifa Port, including the Container Terminal, will not only handle the existing Abu Dhabi container business, but also serve Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), and offer the industrial zone’s tenants unprecedented access to global markets,” he said.
“This requires carefully-planned procedures that are discussed with the stakeholders before implementation.”
The amount of cargo handled by the port is set to grow as tenancy rises in the nearby Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), which is planned to grow in subsequent stages to become two-thirds the size of Singapore.
The Khalifa Port can handle the largest container vessels currently on the ocean. When it opens, the container terminal will have the capacity to handle 2.5 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent) containers, with the potential to expand to 5 million TEUs. The port’s master plan calls for an annual capacity of 15 million TEUs by 2030.
The port will also be developed to cater for general cargo and roll on/roll off vessels. The initial capacity will be 12 million tons of cargo, including 4 million tons at the already-operational EMAL berth. By 2030 the port is planned to handle 35 million tons of general cargo every year.
Â