Abu Dhabi Ports company has moved its RORO cargo from Abu Dhabi to the new Khalifa Port RORO hub amid growing demand for this type of service.
In 2014, for the first time ever, Abu Dhabi handled more than 100,000 units in a single year, recording an all-time high of 106,071 units. The RORO volumes grew by 18.8% compared to 2013, Abu Dhabi Ports said.
“Over recent years, Abu Dhabi’s RORO business has increased significantly, today it forms an important element of the Emirate’s strategic vision to diversify the economy. As the UAE is a growing market for the automotive sector, our business strategy is to support this growth by developing and enhancing Abu Dhabi’s port infrastructure, to build this sustainable industry for the Emirate’s future prosperity, ” says Capt. Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, CEO, Abu Dhabi Ports .
As explained, Khalifa Port offers additional berthing facilities and an increased throughput capacity that can cater to the wider regional RORO markets of the GCC region, Africa and the Indian Sub-continent.
While Zayed Port provided a capacity for 132,000 vehicle units per year, Khalifa Port’s current annual capacity is nearly three times as much (360,000), with plans to extend the capacity to accommodate over 500,000 units per year in the future.
Furthermore, Khalifa Port is capable of handling up to four of the largest RORO vessels at a time, double the number that Zayed Port could handle, significantly boosting turnaround times and increasing the supply chain efficiencies for the shipping lines.
According to the company, this is a major advantage for RORO carriers looking to reduce voyage times and enhance their overall network coverage in the region using hub and spoke model.
“With Khalifa Port, we are now able to offer a consolidated full service RORO hub supported by the adjacent Kizad. Moving forward, the extended space and capacity at the port will cater for the Emirate’s import, export and transshipment volumes and enable us to offer economies of scale to our customers while strengthening the port’s position both nationally and internationally,” Al Shamisi concludes.