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Marine Transport
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Tankers load crude oil at Ras Tanura on the Arabian Gulf. |
Saudi Arabia has taken advantage of its extensive coastline for the nation's industrial development. The Kingdom has enlarged and modernized its 21 ports considerably in recent years, particularly the five major ones located at Jeddah, Dammam, Yanbu, Jizan and Jubail. The Central Ports Authority operates all the Kingdom's ports, supplying equipment, building piers and maintaining facilities.
The main focus has been to expand and improve existing ports and to make cargo handling more efficient. Presently, 179 berths at the nation's ports offer prompt service with the most advanced cargo handling equipment. Each berth now handles a greater amount of cargo than in the past
In 1992, the ports moved more than 72.9 million tons of cargo. The Islamic Port of Jeddah, one of the principal ports in the Middle East, handles more than half of the Kingdom's sea traffic. The 58 wharves each accommodate 1,270 tons of goods daily. New port facilities have also been built at the Yanbu Industrial City on the Red Sea, both to ease the load at Jeddah and to handle petrochemical exports. At the same time, ports for fishing boats and small freighters have also been constructed or upgraded .
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