Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi has registered notable achievements in its first full year of operations including 35 per cent productivity increases at the quayside, cutting trucks’ turnaround time by 64 per cent and enabling them to leave after 15 minutes at the terminal to pick-up or drop-off a container, a senior official says.

Martijn Van de Linde, the CEO of Abu Dhabi Terminals, also said the semi-automated operations at the Khalifa Port Container Terminal were much safer than the traditional modes used in other regional ports, adding "I am exceptionally proud to say that since we began the first trials here a year ago, we have achieved 1.9 million man hours with no lost time incidents."

"Khalifa Port lays the foundation for a diverse economy and gives businesses the best possible opportunity to compete in the global market place."

The port announced it had an 8 per cent increase in general productivity for the January to July 2013, when compared with the same period last year. In July the terminal handled a record 81,000 teu of containers – the most ever handled in one month in the emirate.

Also in July, it achieved its highest crane productivity with 43.3 crane moves per hour (mph) while loading and unloading the CSL Ride, and in August the terminal achieved a work production rate of 142.4 mph, both achievements placing the terminal in the global top 10 for productivity.

Khalifa Port was built to accommodate all of the container traffic from Zayed Port and the additional cargo generated by the adjacent Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad).

Khalifa Port, as the gateway to Abu Dhabi, now handles all of the container traffic for the emirate. A deep-sea port with a 16 m draft, it is deep enough for the biggest ships sailing the oceans today. With six ship-to-shore cranes, 30 automated stacking cranes and 20 sprinter carriers to move containers between stack and quay, the ship-to-shore cranes are some of the largest in the world and able to reach across a width of 22 containers stacked on a ship.

Direct connections link Khalifa Port to more than 40 international destinations at the world’s main hubs such as Singapore, Tanjung Pelepas on the Straits of Malacca; Hong Kong and Shenzhen in the Pearl River Delta; Port Said at Suez Canal, and Algeciras and Tangiers at the Straits of Gibraltar.

Marking the first anniversary of commercial operations, Mohamed Al Shamisi, acting CEO of ADPC, said: "Khalifa Port and Kizad industrial zone are together the biggest infrastructure project ever undertaken in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

"I would like to thank our leaders and stakeholders for their vision and support. Together we are developing a world class sustainable hub port that is already actively enhancing international trade, providing direct access to global markets, and creating development and employment opportunities for the UAE".