Aden is rebounding as a shipping centre with tremendous growth in container traffic and plans to modernise the port. Aden, once the world's top bunkering port after New York, had its fortunes declining because of shifting trade patterns, war, political changes and uncertainties in the 1970s and 1980s.

The South Yemen port assumed the 130th rank in the league of container ports in 2000, up from 330 in 1995 and this year is expected to handle 400,000teu, which should put it within the top 100.

The blast on the US warship Cole recently was said not to have affected container traffic although the port was struck off from the itinerary of some passenger lines. Container traffic is set to grow primarily because of Aden's geographical location at the end of the Arabian peninsula, which makes it ideal for mother vessels to discharge their cargoes for the feeder vessels to take over. From there on, feeder craft can supply ports in the GCC states as well as Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Iraq and Iran.

Development of the port is projected to boost foreign investment in the Aden Free Zone, and the spinoff is expected to benefit Aden city and the areas of Abyan, Lahj and Taiz. The Yemeni government considers the Aden Free Zone as an international gateway to business on three continents: Asia, Europe and Africa. EU consultant J Pearce has been quoted in the Yemen Times as saying that it could be a motor for economic growth spurring new regional trade and business opportunities.

Aden's annual growth since 1992 (9,632 teu) is to the tune of 2,600 per cent and new services and expansions continue to feed traffic growth.

The New World Consortium started calling at Aden every Wednesday from mid-January this year, using the port for regional transhipment to the Red Sea, East Africa, the Gulf and the West Coast of India. According to the newspaper, other lines providing similar services are considering Aden in preference to other ports in the region. Total container throughput in Aden in 2000 was almost 248,000teu, more than double the 1999 figure of 121,700teu.

Aden will have to reckon with increasing competition from other regional ports including nearby Salalah and the UAE ports. Aden's container handling tariff is said to be very competitive while its marine tariff is higher than many of the region's competitors. The port can cash in on the minimal deviation that ships trading on the main East-West routes have to take to call at Aden.

One indication of growth in Aden is the number of vessels calling each year - some 1,668 (excluding fishing craft and yachts) in 2000 against 900 in 1995. Aden is preparing to host 2,330 large vessels by 2005 with expansions going on. Some 20 passenger vessels and 170 yachts visit Aden every year.

"But serious deterrents to the development of the free zone are the frequent complaints from potential investors about the difficulty in getting information and licenses because of excessive bureaucracy," reported the Yemen Times.

All is not bleak though. The EU has agreed to grant Yemen $759,000 for institutional training at Yemen's Free Zones Public Authority. The Germans have invested DN80 million in restoring the sewage system, and new buildings such as the Ma'alla Plaza and the Thabet Brothers Building along the Ma'alla Mile have been built and are seeing increasing occupancy. Hotels, too, are being revamped with new ones under construction including the Red Sea Hotel.

Meanwhile Shippers have been warned over a growing number of claims of injury on board their vessels by local stevedores in Yemen.

The North of England Protecting and Indemnity Association (NEPIA) has urged its members loading or discharging at Yemeni ports to formally advise the stevedoring company to immediately report any accidents to a ship's officer.

The association said in its Signals newsletter that any such reports should be fully investigated by the master as a matter of urgency and the NEPIA and correspondents should he advised as soon us possible.

Witness statements should be taken from all relevant parties, including other stevedores to prevent possibility of collusion at a later date, the association said.