Khalifa Port () is the
Abu Dhabi Ports' flagship deepwater port. It is a gateway to
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...
and handles all of the emirate’s container traffic. The transfer of container traffic from
Zayed Port was completed in December 2012.
Khalifa Port has a Phase 1 capacity of 2.5 million
TEUs and 12 million tonnes of general cargo a year and an expected capacity of 15 million TEUs and 35 million tonnes of general cargo by 2030.
After a three-month transition of container operations from Abu Dhabi's
Zayed Port, Abu Dhabi Ports' Khalifa Port was officially inaugurated by the
President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh
Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan on 12 December 2012.
Geography
The port is part of the Maritime
Silk Road
The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...
that runs from the Chinese coast to the south via the southern tip of
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
to
Mombasa
Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...
, from there through the
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
via the
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
to the Mediterranean, there to the Upper Adriatic region to the northern Italian hub of
Trieste
Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...
with its rail connections to
Central Europe
Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern Europe, Eastern, Southern Europe, Southern, Western Europe, Western and Northern Europe, Northern Europe. Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in ...
, Eastern Europe and the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...
.
The port island, which includes the region’s only semi-automated container terminal, is 2.7 km
2 (1.05 square miles) and is situated some 5 km (3.12 miles) offshore. It is joined to the onshore by a north and south causeway and a 1 km-long road and utility bridge. The port’s container yard has nine of the world's largest ship-to-shore quay cranes, 42 automated stacking cranes, and 23 shuttle carriers. The onshore port area, which connects the port with
Kizad (
Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi) hosts customs, immigration, container freight, inspection, and security facilities.
The semi-automated process allows more container capacity with minimal congestion and faster turnaround times, compared to older methods. The inventory stacks in the yard are fully automated, and the delivery and loading information and advanced GPS tracking information is fully integrated with customs to increase throughput.
The port’s software and wireless technologies provide integrated movement of containers through the port. It has transport links to Abu Dhabi and beyond via high-speed road. rail connections were planned. On 29 October 2014 Abu Dhabi Terminals celebrated the handling of 2 million containers at Khalifa Port.
On 24 February 2013
Abu Dhabi Ports chairman
Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber announced that Khalifa Port would be the official
shirt sponsor for football team
Al Ain FC during the
2013 AFC Champions League
The 2013 AFC Champions League was the 32nd edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 11th under the current AFC Champions League title. The defending champions, Ulsan ...
.
After reaching 905,000 TEUs in 2013, a rise of 17 percent, container traffic at Khalifa Port is expected to climb to around 1.3 million TEUs by the end of 2014, a further increase of 22 percent.
Khalifa Port Container Terminal
The container terminal at Khalifa Port is managed and operated by
Abu Dhabi Terminals (ADT), a joint venture between Abu Dhabi Ports,
Mubadala and Mubadala Infrastructure Partners. ADT signed a 30-year concession agreement with Abu Dhabi Ports to manage and operate Khalifa Port Container Terminal until 2042.
Abu Dhabi Terminals was established in 2006 as the operator of all ports in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and formerly operated Zayed Port and the Freeport in Musaffah. Under Abu Dhabi Terminals' leadership, Khalifa Port Container Terminal has tripled the container trade in Abu Dhabi and currently connects Abu Dhabi to 62 direct international destinations.
In 2015, Abu Dhabi Terminals handled 32% more containers. The terminal moved 1,504,293 TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units/containers), up from 1,137,679 TEUs in 2014. In H1 2016, Abu Dhabi Terminals volume at Khalifa Port grew by 11%, taking the lead again in the Middle East region for fastest growing container terminal as most ports announced flat or negative growth.
The port is also the first port in the middle east to have autonomous port truck systems.
See also
*
Musaffah Port, the dedicated port for Abu Dhabi's
Musaffah Industrial Zone.
References
External links
Abu Dhabi PortsAbu Dhabi Terminals
{{Abu Dhabi
Transport in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi
Ports and harbours of the United Arab Emirates
2012 establishments in the United Arab Emirates
Transport in the Arab League