Abu Dhabi’s new Khalifa Port handled 1 million teu in its first year of operation. The port began commercial operations at the end of 2012 when all container traffic was transferred from the city centre Zayed Port to the new state-of-the-art flagship facility.

Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC), the master developer of ports and industrial zones, and Abu Dhabi Terminals (ADT), the container terminal operator in the emirate, celebrated the record growth in container throughput at a recent event.

In October 2013, more than 100,000 TEUs passed through the port in just one month. These are very significant figures for Khalifa Port and the highest number of containers ever handled in a single month in the emirate, said a senior ADPC official.

Mohamed Al Shamisi, the acting CEO said: “One million containers is an important record for Abu Dhabi, not just Khalifa Port.  It’s a great achievement for everyone working at the port, demonstrating that the container terminal operations are efficiently and effectively handling the growing import and export volumes that the port was designed for.”

Martijn Van de Linde, the CEO of ADT, said: “We are very proud of what we have accomplished over the past year. Surpassing the one million teu mark is very a significant milestone in the development of Khalifa Port and a clear testament to the efforts and hard work of our teams but even more so the strong and loyal support we have witnessed from our ever growing customer base.”

Currently, Khalifa Port has the capacity to handle 2.5 million teu with its six super panamax ship-to-shore cranes, its 30 automated stacking cranes and 20 straddle carriers.  This capacity will be developed as the trade increases and the market demands. 

By 2030, as part of the drive to diversify the emirate’s economy away from hydrocarbon revenue, Khalifa Port will be able to handle 15 million teu a year and together with the adjacent Kizad industrial zone, is expected to contribute 15 per cent of non-oil GDP, stated Al Shamisi.

Meanwhile, ADPC will take over the management and operations at Zayed Port from ADT from the beginning or the New Year.

According to ADPC, the concession for the management and operations is being returned to the port authority in line with the original planning for port capacity for the emirate. This planning was outlined when ADPC was established, said a company statement.

ADT has been managing the Zayed Port concession since 2006, and moving forward, it will continue to work closely together with ADPC as the company holds the 30-year concession to manage and operate the emirate’s flagship Khalifa Port, said the statement.

ADT and ADPC have a long established close working partnership and have assembled a dedicated specialist team to manage the handover.