New UAE port opens
After years of meticulous planning, the Abu Dhabi Ports Co (ADPC) recently started operations at the state-of-the-art flagship port Khalifa (left), the most technically advanced port in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
Khalifa Port's container terminal has a capacity of 2.5 million TEUs a year, with an additional 12 million tonnes of general cargo, including four million tonnes a year from the Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) berth, which opened in late 2010.
The port's landmark features include the UAE's longest bridge at over one kilometre in length and the multi-award winning environmental protection breakwater - the eight kilometre arm that curls around the port to protect the Ras Ghanada coral reef, the only example of its kind in the Arabian Gulf.
All the container traffic at Abu Dhabi's Mina Zayed Port will be transferred to Khalifa Port by the end of the first quarter of 2013. In 2012, Mina Zayed celebrated 40 years and is expected to reach maximum capacity by the end of the year.
Mina Zayed will continue to handle commercial cargo but will concentrate on developing the growing cruise liner business at the port. It is ideally situated in the heart of the city centre.
At the heart of Khalifa Port is the advanced terminal operational building that houses state-of-the-art computer technology used to control much of the container terminal. Kha-lifa Port is designed to be rolled out in phases should market demand require it. For example, the innovative technology and infrastructure is highly flexible, creating economies of scale that will reduce the cost should there be demand for future expansion.
The port has been dredged to be deeper than needed to accommodate ships larger than the ones in service now and the ship-to-shore cranes are among the largest in the world.