During the ongoing Saudi Maritime Congress in Dammam, which is being attended by Prince Ahmed bin Fahd bin Salman, Deputy Governor of Eastern Province, the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) has signed seven contracts and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with partners from the public and private sectors totaling more than SR900 million ($240 million).
These include deals for establishment of a new integrated logistics park at Jeddah Islamic Port, development of infrastructure as per global standards and also for setting up new ports’ management system, reported SPA.
With these deals, Mawani aims to achieve complete transformation in the process of operations and logistical support at Saudi ports, in line with initiatives assigned to the Authority within the Saudi Vision 2030 program, and to fulfill the objectives of the National Transport and Logistics Strategy (NTLS) to position Saudi Arabia as a global logistics hub.
The first contract signed was with Globe Group to build an integrated logistics park and a re-export zone at Jeddah Islamic Port over an area of 135,000 sq m, which will fetch vast employment opportunities for locals and enable national companies specialized in the logistics industry to set up base.
The second contract was signed with PC Marine Services for SR458 million to cooperate in strengthening food security through Jeddah Islamic Port, by constructing new berths with a design depth of 16 m and a length of 1100 m, thus increasing the number of berths from 26 to 31 in the multi-purpose terminal to accommodate large dry bulk vessels.
The scope of work includes development of infrastructure to receive larger dry bulk carriers and also meet the local market demand of grains, as well as securing the kingdom’s strategic grain reserve by increasing the imported grains.
Mawani has also sealed a SR184 million contract with Modern Building Leaders (MBL) in cooperation with Huta Hegerfeld Saudia to implement the project of deepening the approach channels, turning basins, waterways, and the southern terminal basin at Jeddah Islamic Port to facilitate the berthing of large vessels with a capacity of 24,000 TEUs.
The Saudi port body has also signed a SR61 million contract with Giza Arabia to implement the security system project at King Fahad Industrial Port in Yanbu.
Another deal was signed with King Abdulaziz University to implement the best practices in the fields of research, training, and academic affairs related to ports as well as the maritime transport and logistics sector, stated the SPA report.
It is aimed at strengthening the cooperation in the fields of occupational health and safety, as well as the Maritime Law and investigations of maritime accidents and injuries, along with protecting the environment from oil leakage and pollution.
In addition, Mawani signed a MoU with the Saudi Accreditation Center to provide accreditation services to the conformity assessment bodies contracting with Mawani, and strengthen the cooperation in the fields of research and exchanging expertise, to further ensure costumer protection as well as general health and safety according to the assessment standards in the kingdom, said the report.
The seventh MoU was inked with Tabadul towards development of the ports’ new management systems and implement the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) technologies in Saudi ports.
This comes in line with the Smart Ports initiative to expand the services provided at the ports and increasing the 46 current services to reach 150 services, in order to achieve the objectives of the digital transformation in the logistics sector, it stated.
During the event, Mawani focused on strengthening communication along with showcasing promising services and solutions in Saudi Arabia, while it received leaders and experts within the maritime transport and logistics industry on local and international level at its booth in the congress, to share the latest development of Saudi ports.
A key industry event, Saudi Maritime Congress is held annually in cooperation with Mawani, Saudi’s national shipping company Bahri, and several strategic founding partners.
In accordance with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030, which seek to establish the Kingdom as a global logistics hub, the event brings together experts in the maritime transport and logistics sector and offers a forum for the industry’s leaders from around the world to discuss investment and development.
