UAE?s Abu Dhabi Ports has announced a 30 per cent growth in Q1 2015, mainly propelled by the introduction of new shipping lanes, growth of roll-on-roll-off trade and increase in cruise passenger traffic
The number of TEUs (twenty foot equivalent units/containers) has increased YoY from 224,080 in 2014 to 302,151 in 2015, mainly due to the increase in the number of shipping lines and new connections to ports worldover. Abu Dhabi Ports now has connections to more than 100 direct destinations and 36 shipping lines.
Specifically, the Khalifa Port Container Terminal, which is operated by Abu Dhabi Terminals (ADT) has seen a 35 per cent increase in volumes handled in Q1 2015. General and bulk cargo accounted for a considerable volume of traffic at the Khalifa Port, Musaffah Port and Zayed Port ? profits have increased by 32 per cent in Q1 2015 compared to Q1 2014.
So far, the ports have handled a total of 3,519,714 FT (freight tonnes) of general and bulk cargo in Q1 2015, compared with 2,663,129 FT in the same period last year.
Abu Dhabi Ports CEO Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi said, ?Last year, our general and bulk cargo increased by 37 per cent over the entire year. This trend looks set to continue looking at our latest figures, as containers, general and bulk cargo have all increased by more than 30 per cent to date. This healthy growth is the result of increased import/export activity around various industrial development projects in the emirate and work resuming on some of the major infrastructure projects.?
In addition, a majority of the emirate?s roll-on-roll-off (RORO) trade is now transiting through the RORO hub at Khalifa Port. Profits have risen here as well ? in Q1 2015, it was up 4.7 per cent, mainly due to the introduction of new services and vehicles.
Finally, the port?s cruise season was also deemed profitable, which recorded a 32 per cent increase in the first quarter of the year, compared to the same time last year. A total of 115,796 cruise passengers visited the UAE capital compared to 87,713 last year.
