Thursday, Jan 10, 2008
Gulf News
Dubai: Port Rashid, once Dubai's major trading gateway, is closing general and non-containerised cargo handling operations, which will move to Jebel Ali, reducing its operations as part of a government plan to turn the area into a major maritime services and cruise hub, a statement said yesterday.
The move marks the beginning of the end of Port Rashid - a major supply line for the UAE, as reported in Gulf News earlier. Till the mid-1980s, Port Rashid used to be the main harbour. However, Jebel Ali, the region's largest harbour, began to outshine the rest since its inception in the early 1980s.
Dubai Maritime City, which has started operations on a reclaimed land near Port Rashid, along with Dubai Drydocks, will become the biggest maritime services, shipbuilding and cruise hub. Port Rashid will host the region's only dedicated cruise terminal, which has witnessed a strong growth in business. Dubai's Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) is to build a second cruise terminal in the coming years.
Staff and equipment associated with general and non-containerised cargo handling will similarly relocate to Jebel Ali by the end of March. Some container handling capacity will remain at Port Rashid and cruise ships and ferries will continue to use Port Rashid.
Mohammad Al Muallem, senior vice-president and managing director of DP World's UAE region said: "We have discussed our services with our customers, who are keen to take advantage of our new facility at Jebel Ali. We are therefore making this move to ensure we continue to meet their expanding needs efficiently today and into the future, offering state of the art facilities and services.
Potential
"There is also the potential for our customers, and their customers, the shippers, to explore opportunities to improve supply chain efficiencies with the free zone expansion and development of new airport facilities at Jebel Ali, which will be focused on cargo movement. We will work with our customers and business partners over coming weeks and months to ensure a smooth transition to Jebel Ali.
"These operations may move to add to the thriving business we have at Jebel Ali, but Port Rashid is part of our history and will therefore always be important to us and to our city."
Statement: Responding to requests
DP World yesterday said that in response to customer requests, it is moving its general and non-containerised cargo handling operations at Port Rashid in central Dubai to its flagship facility near Jebel Ali.
"Following requests from container shipping lines to move to the brand new container terminal at Jebel Ali opened in the third quarter of last year, most of the containerised cargo handled at Port Rashid has already moved to DP World's flagship terminal," the statement said.
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