Jeddah Islamic Port (JIP), whose container throughput is still short of its designed capacity, is undertaking conversions of five general cargo berths into container berths.

Three of the converted berths will be allocated to the North Container terminal, operated by Gulf Stevedoring Contracting Company, with the remainder allocated to the Southern Terminal operated by the Siyanco-DPA combine.
“Despite having spent more than SR2 billion ($535 million) in equipment purchases over the last five to six years, we will probably reach our capacity limit by 2009,” said Sahir bin M Tahlawi, JIP’s director-general, earlier this year, explaining why terminal capacity was being expanded.
The converted berths will raise capacity by approximately 1 million teu.
JIP achieved a throughput of 2.96 million teu in 2006, close to its installed capacity and a modest 2.5 per cent increase over 2005.  For four years beginning 2002, the port had consistently record double-digit growth of 16 per cent, 27 per cent, 36 per cent and 17 per cent.
The Northern Terminal contributed 1.40 million teu in 2006, improving from 1.25 million teu in 2005, while the Southern Terminal had a worrying drop from 1.64 million teu to 1.56 million teu.
Throughput for all types of cargo including bulk was 4.03 million tonnes in 2006 against 3.95 million tonnes in 2005.
But with large-scale infrastructure and industrial development taking place in the kingdom, particularly with the creation of new industrial cities and the launch of new projects and expansions, Jeddah Islamic Port has foreseen that it will have to keep abreast of future demand by a massive addition to teu capacity beyond what the existing facilities can accommodate even with modifications.
A third container terminal to be operated by Tusdeer is under construction. Tusdeer has teamed up with the Malaysian company, Seaport Terminal, under a Build-Operate-Transfer licence granted by the Saudi Seaport Authority. The Malaysian firm holds a 20 per cent stake in the project and was brought on board for its expertise in building and developing the Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP).
The terminal, with a 740-m-long main berth, a 390-m-long feeder berth and a deep draft of 18 m, will have an annual container handling capacity of 1.5 million teu.  It will also have its own dedicated 16.5 m deep channel linked to Jeddah Islamic Port’s main channel.
Once the new port is ready, the 13-day clearance period at JIP will be cut to 10 days. The terminal will be supported by advanced IT systems and provide near paperless transactions between port personnel, shipping lines, marine services and freight forwarders.
The new terminal project comes at a time when an initiative to build King Abdullah Economic City has been launched. Saudi Arabia’s transport minister Dr Jebara Al Seraisri does not think that a port being developed for the Economic City will harm the prospects of JIP. He believes that competition between the two would be “a positive factor to enhance our competitive ability and to move alongside economic development in the area.” The terminal’s design, carried out by Halcrow International of the UK, will accommodate the next generation of container ships. The two berths are planned to be operational during the first quarter of 2009.
The cost of the new terminal could reach SR3 billion.
Tusdeer is already operating a free zone in the port area and has invited companies to set up commercial and light processing industries across a million square metres of land reclaimed from the sea.