Mawani takes measures to ease Suez congestion

The Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) will extend the services of Jeddah Islamic Port for ship transfers and container offloading to support shipping lines stranded at the south end of the Suez Canal on the Red Sea coast.

Mawani’s initiative is aimed at assisting the shipping logistics industry to manage the unexpected situation in the Suez Canal after the Ever Given incident.

The Saudi Ports Authority will, therefore, extend the period of exemption from storage fees for transhipment containers from 30 to 60 days for a duration of three months starting on 27 March.

“The initiative underscores Saudi Arabia’s commitment to mitigating the impact on global supply chains, in addition to affirming Saudi ports’ readiness to adapt to shifts in the international transport market and the associated challenges,” said MAWANI in a statement.

The support also reasserts the advanced capabilities of Jeddah Islamic Port and its capacity to accommodate the estimated number of containers on these vessels without affecting the port’s operations, according to an announcement.

Located on the commercial maritime artery that connects the Far East, Europe and the Horn of Africa, Jeddah Islamic Port ranks first among the Red Sea ports, with a capacity of 130 million tonnes across 62 berths.