Beirut: Saudi Arabia's state-run Public Investment Fund and Singapore's port authority are expected to conclude, within one week, an agreement to expand King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam in the east of the kingdom, pan-Arab Asharq Al Awsat daily reported Saturday, citing a senior Saudi official.
The project aims to more than double the port's capacity and involves building a container terminal that will be operated by a company that will be set up for this purpose, Naeem Al Naeem, general manager of King Abdul Aziz Port, told the paper.
The project, the largest Saudi port expansion so far, will boost the port's annual capacity to 3.5 million containers from the current 1.5 million containers at a total cost of about two billion Saudi riyals (Dh1.9 billion), the daily reports, adding that the project would be completed within three years.
Dammam's King Abdul Aziz Sea Port is the largest on the Arabian Gulf. Its import-export traffic in the country is second only to Jeddah's port.
Repair yard
Like Jeddah, it boasts a fully equipped repair yard. In 1984, King Fahd opened the King Fahd Ship Repair Complex, with an area of 135,000 square metres and two docks for ship repair and maintenance. The Port also has an advanced centre for training Saudi staff in repairing ships. It has a tower 95 metres high as well as special stations for handling bulk cereals, containers and cold or frozen foods.
Main gateway
The port is the main gateway through which cargoes from all over the world enter the Eastern and Central Provinces of the Kingdom.
It is strategically placed to service the requirements of the oil industry, the development of the capital Riyadh and the major provincial cities in the Eastern and Central Provinces.
