The General Authority of Ports (Mawani) announced today that the Thai company “RCL”, which specializes in the field of maritime shipping, has added the new navigational shipping service “RGA”, which connects King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam to the ports of Southeast Asia and West Asia, which contributes to strengthening the transportation sector. Maritime and ports, and improving all services provided to beneficiaries, including importers, exporters, and maritime agents.
The new service comes within the framework of Mawani’s efforts to increase the competitiveness of Saudi ports and improve the Kingdom’s classification on the UNCTAD Maritime Transport Lines Index, after Saudi ports achieved their highest progress in the Maritime Navigation Network Connectivity Index, in the UNCTAD report for the second quarter of 2023, issued by the conference. The United Nations for Trade and Development scored 76.16 points, ranking the Kingdom 16th in the world, out of 187 countries, in line with the objectives of the National Strategy for Transport and Logistics to consolidate the Kingdom’s position as a global logistics center.
The new shipping service, which will be launched weekly starting from the first week in September 2023 from the Vietnamese port of Ho Chi Minh, with one ship, will connect King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam to 6 regional and international ports, including: Vietnamese Cai Meb, Thailand’s Laem Chabang, Malaysia’s Port Klang, and Nhava Sheva. Al-Hindi, Jebel Ali in the Emirates, and Sohar in Oman.
The new service contributes to enhancing the port’s ability to support the movement of national imports and exports, as well as raising the Kingdom’s ranking in international indicators, due to its qualitative operational and logistical capabilities, as it contains modern handling equipment that enables it to handle various types of goods and receive giant ships, and the number of its berths is 43 fully serviced and equipped berths.
It is noteworthy that King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam achieved a new record during the month of July 2023, by handling 211,202 thousand standard containers in one month, which reflects the success of Mawani’s efforts in developing its infrastructure to transform it into a leading port with the goals of long-term sustainability, automation, digitization, and chain of transport. Integrated Supply, as it is the main port of the Kingdom on the Arabian Gulf, and is linked to the dry port in Riyadh by railway. It is also considered a primary port through which goods from all over the world pass to the eastern and central regions.