APM Terminals Bahrain has signed a 25-year concession agreement for the operation of Mina Salman and the new Khalifa bin Salman Port.Construction of Khalifa Bin Salman Port – Bahrain Gateway is scheduled for completion in the third quarter of 2008.
The new port will have a 1.8 km quay wall and a draft alongside of 15 metres, enabling the port to handle vessels up to post-Panamax size. With approximately 900,000 m2 of land, the site offers substantial potential for growth.
APM Terminals will provide the operational equipment for the Port. Plans include four post-Panamax gantry cranes and a Rubber Tyre Gantry container management system for the container terminal.
APM will assume the best practices of the General Directorate of Ports and supplement them with the experience, systems and processes gathered from managing and operating ports around the world, in order to provide the best possible service to local clients and to ocean carriers using Bahrain as a hub for Upper Gulf cargo.
APM will implement a berthing window system, wherein vessels will be scheduled to arrive and depart within pre-agreed windows to ensure maximum productivity at the berth and minimum vessel delays.
APM will also manage pilotage services for Bahrain’s territorial waters, except the Dry Dock at ASRY, in order to provide safe, consistent control of vessels within the waters of Bahrain. To support this operation, APM has subcontracted towage and pilotage services to its sister company, SvitzerWijsmuller.
APM is also seeking new ways to provide services to Bahrain’s commercial community, given the substantial amount of space available within Mina Salman and its many warehouses.