Khalifa Port’s container terminal has a capacity of 2.5m teu per year, with an additional 12m tonnes of general cargo, including 4m tonnes a year from the busy Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) berth which opened in late 2010.The opening of Khalifa is a tactical move by ADPC – it has been designed to be rolled out in phases should the market require it.
For now, the port has been dredged deeper than is needed to accommodate larger vessels in future and the six giant ship to shore cranes which line the quay have been built to cater for the vessels of the future. It also has two new state of the art tugboats, the Al Durrah and Al Fenci.
At the heart of the new port is its advanced terminal operational building which houses state of the art new technology used to control most of the container terminal – it’s the first semi automated port in the region.
The complex also includes the UAE’s longest bridge and the 8km environmental protection breakwater which curves around the port to protect the Ras Ghanada coral reef – the only example of its kind in the Arabian Gulf.
ADPC is finally starting to reap the rewards of its investment at Khalifa Port and Mina Zayed – which is expected to reach maximum capacity by the end of the year after 40 years in operation. All of Mina Zayed’s container traffic will have been transferred to Khalifa by the first quarter of 2013. Mina Zayed will then focus on cruise business.
The Khalifa development is at the heart of the first phase of the US$7.2bn megaproject in Taweelah which consists of Khalifa port and the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad).