More than SR640 million invested in Saudi ports amid Strait of Hormuz crisis

JEDDAH — More than SR640 million has been invested in Saudi ports over the past three months to enhance their readiness and increase their capacity to handle higher volumes of trade amid disruptions linked to the Strait of Hormuz crisis. According to Al Arabiya Business, Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) President Sulaiman Almazroua said during the inauguration of the world's largest truck marshalling logistics zone at Jeddah Islamic Port that the Minister of Transport and Logistic Services had, since the onset of the Strait of Hormuz crisis, directed efforts toward ensuring the Kingdom's western coast was fully prepared to receive supply chains smoothly, meeting the needs of both Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states. He explained that the transport and logistics ecosystem had worked in an integrated manner to carry out the task, while Mawani focused on four key priorities. The first was strengthening maritime connectivity by increasing the number of shipping services to ports on the Kingdom's western coast to compensate for any potential shortfall in the eastern region. He added that during the crisis, the authority succeeded in attracting more than 27 additional shipping services to the Kingdom's western region, providing a monthly handling capacity of more than 200,000 containers. The increase helped meet the needs of the western region, offset any shortfall in the eastern region, and support Gulf markets.