DPA records impressive growth in first-half traffic

The Dubai Ports Authority (DPA) has registered impressive growth during the first half of the current year, in terms of cargo and passenger handling.

The port's passenger Ferry Terminal has shown impressive growth in traffic while the passenger movement in the Cruise Terminal have registered a decline.

Passenger movement in the Ferry Terminal in Port Rashid has increased from 20,011 during January to May 2001 to 25,532 during the same period of the current year.

However, 7,425 passengers used the Cruise Terminal during the first five months in 2001 which came down to 2,080 during the first five months of 2002. In total, passenger movement went up to 27,612 this year from 27,436 during January to May 2001.

The decline in the cruise passengers was due to the Sept. 11 events in the US, which affected the global cruise industry very badly. The number of cruise calls have also declined over the last nine months following the tragic events.

The DPA has recorded a 13.43 per cent rise in containers handled during the first half of 2002 to total 1.93 million TEUs. This compares to the 1.7 million recorded during a similar period last year.

"The authority's success signifies that despite growing market challenge in global shipping industry, DPA has nevertheless moved from strength to strength, " said Jamal Majid bin Thania, managing director of DPA.

The figures represent the combined throughput from the Jebel Ali, Port Rashid and Hamriya terminals. The total inbound cargo has gone up to 550,055 TEUs, while the outbound shipment totaled 414,648.

The bulk transshipment went up to 1.93 million TEUs while container tonnage reached 15.1 million during the first half of 2002.

DPA has also handled 5.2 million tonnes of oil and 181,471 tonnes of LNG and 56,295 tonnes of other petroleum-related cargo. In total, it handled 5.44 million tonnes of energy during January to June 2002.

DPA has also handled a total of 5,798 vessels during this period, including 2,462 container vessels, 289 ro-ro vessels, 403 general cargo ships, 399 tankers, 875 supply vessels and 1,370 others.

"The increase also indicates the buoyancy of Dubai economy in sustaining its leading position as a major distribution centre re-exporting goods to regional as well as international markets," he said.

During the first half of 2002, DPA handled 747,137 containers of up to 20 cubic metre, against 712,403 last year, and 593,709 of over 20 cubic metres, compared to 496,560 last year.

"Customer satisfaction is prime target of our daily activity. We cannot afford losing our focus on our customers in this competitive market," said Mohammed Sharaf, commercial director of DPA.