Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) is transferring all of its Roll-On and Roll-Off (RORO) cargo, such as cars and trucks, from Zayed Port to Khalifa Port.
The move comes as a result of Abu Dhabi's growing vehicle import and export business and will be effective from 1 January 2015.
As the maritime gateway to Abu Dhabi and one of the most advanced ports in the world, Khalifa Port offers more facilities and an increasing number of direct links (currently 52) to destination ports around the globe.
The current RORO import and export activities serve Abu Dhabi and the U.A.E., but the extended space and capacity at Khalifa Port will attract more RORO transshipment for the wider Gulf region, facilitating a more competitive and therefore customer-friendly market.
While Zayed Port has many vehicle slots on its port site and can handle two RORO vessels at a time, Khalifa Port will have 15,000 slots and will be able to handle up to four vessels at a time. The new RORO hub at Khalifa Port will be designed to guarantee quick turnaround times and supply chain efficiency for shipping lines.
During the transitional period Zayed Port will continue to provide a storage area for the remaining vehicles.
"By moving all of our RORO traffic to Khalifa Port, we can enhance our facilities and offer our customers a consolidated full service RORO hub, supported by the adjacent Kizad logistics and distribution zone.
"We can develop and drive the growth of this important industry as demand for vehicles across the Emirate continues to grow, while developing our transshipment trade with other destinations", says Capt. Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, CEO, ADPC.
ADPC's latest figures underline the massive growth of Abu Dhabi's RORO business: A record number of 10,472 vehicles were handled at Zayed Port in October, the highest number of vehicles ever handled in a single month.
In 2013, a total of 89,280 vehicles were imported to/exported from the emirate, this year's RORO moves already add up to 84,869 vehicles and the year-end volumes are expected to be in the region of 100,000 vehicles.
"From 2013 to the end of 2014, we are anticipating a year-on-year increase of around 13%. As our market analysis indicates, next year, we expect to exceed 130,000 vehicles at Khalifa. With Khalifa Port as Abu Dhabi's new market base for RORO cargo, we will be able to effectively cater for this growth and offer economies of scale to our customers", Al Shamisi adds.
ADPC's core objective is to facilitate the diversification of the economy by stimulating development and trade, following Abu Dhabi's Economic Vision 2030.
ADPC manages nine commercial, logistics, community and leisure ports, including its flagship state-of-the-art, deep-water Khalifa Port. ADPC supports partners' infrastructure projects and sets up new companies and joint ventures in the ports and logistics sectors.
ADPC is also developing Kizad. Located adjacent to Khalifa Port, Kizad serves a range of logistics and manufacturing investors and benefits from excellent multimodal connectivity via sea, air, road and rail networks to ensure easy accessibility to and from the zone.
The company's Dh 24.2 billion (USD 6.5billion) flagship Khalifa Port and Kizad has been designed to be flexible to reflect market needs.
Kizad was launched to market in 2010, and the whole of Khalifa Port was inaugurated on 12/12/12 by U.A.E. President HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The port's semi-automated container terminal was launched on 1 September, 2012 and is now handling all of Abu Dhabi's container traffic, after its transfer from Zayed Port, the historic port in the city centre.
Phase One of Khalifa Port has a capacity of 2.5 million TEUs, plus 12 million tons of general cargo. Further phases of development will occur as market demand requires. With all phases complete, Khalifa Port will be able to handle 15 million TEUs and 35 million tons of general cargo per year.