Abu Dhabi's $2.18 billion Khalifa Port has set a new record handling a million (twenty-foot equivalent units) TEUs in its first year of operation, said senior officials.

Khalifa Port began commercial operations at the end of last year when all container traffic was transferred from the city centre port Zayed Port to the new state of the art flagship facility.

Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC), the master developer of ports and industrial zones and Abu Dhabi Terminals (ADT), the container terminal operator in the emirate celebrated the record growth in container throughput at a recent event.

In October this year, more than 100,000 TEUs passed through the port in just one month. These are very significant figures for Khalifa Port and the highest number of containers ever handled in a single month in the emirate, said a senior ADPC official.

Mohamed Al Shamisi, the acting CEO said:"One million containers is an important record for Abu Dhabi, not just Khalifa Port.  It’s a great achievement for everyone working at the port, demonstrating that the container terminal operations are efficiently and effectively handling the growing import and export volumes that the port was designed for."

Martijn Van de Linde, the CEO of ADT, said: “We are very proud of what we have accomplished over the past year. Surpassing the one million TEU mark is very a significant milestone in the development of Khalifa Port and a clear testament to the efforts and hard work of our teams but even more so, the strong and loyal support we have witnessed from our ever growing customer base.”

Currently, Khalifa Port has the capacity to handle 2.5 million TEU with its six super panamax ship to shore cranes, its 30 automated stacking cranes and 20 straddle carriers.  This capacity will be developed as the trade increases and the market demands.  

By 2030, as part of the drive to diversify the emirate’s economy away from hydro carbon revenue, Khalifa Port will be able to handle 15 million TEUs a year and together with the adjacent Kizad industrial zone, is expected to contribute 15 per cent of non-oil GDP, stated Al Shamisi.-TradeArabia News Service