The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) has announced the inclusion of the Jeddah Islamic Port to the Turkey Libya Express (TLX) service by container shipper CMA CGM in partnership with the Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT).
The new maritime linkage bolsters Jeddah port’s strategic position along the busy Red Sea trade lane, which recently posted a record-breaking throughput of 473,676 TEUs during June. This is because of large-scale infrastructure upgrades and investments.
According to the statement, “The weekly sailing, which kickstarted early July, connects Jeddah to eight global hubs including Shanghai, Ningbo, Nansha, Singapore, Iskenderun, Malta, Misurata, and Port Klang through a fleet of nine ships and a capacity exceeding 30,000 TEUs.”
Further, this move enhances the Kingdom’s rankings in major indices as well as its standing on the global logistics front as per the roadmap set by Saudi Vision 2030.
The current year has seen a historic addition of 20 cargo services so far, a fact that enabled the Kingdom’s rise in the second quarter update of UNCTAD’s Liner Shipping Connectivity Index (LSCI) to the 16th position in a list that includes 187 countries. The nation had similarly recorded a 17-place leap in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index to the 38th spot, in addition to the 8-place jump in the 2023 edition of Lloyd’s List One Hundred Ports, as per the statement.
Earlier this year, the Saudi Ports Authority signed a deal with Alba Nova International and Trafalgar in order to set up an integrated bunker station at the King Fahad Industrial Port in partnership with the Ministry of Energy.
