Jeddah port hit by congestion crisis

PORT CRISIS: Business leaders in Jeddah say action needs to be taken to ease congestion. (Getty Images)

Business leaders are calling for urgent action to improve congestion at Jeddah Islamic Port which is forcing many commercial ships to find alternative routes.

They are being forced to unload their consignments at nearby ports, causing problems to exporters and importers, Arab News reported on Tuesday.

Tarek Al-Marzouki, head of the Shipping Committee at Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told the paper that many shipping lines have diverted their routes without stopping at Jeddah.

“They have been doing this because of a lack of unloading facilities and fear of fines,” he said.

Marzouki said the port required radical solutions to solve the crisis, especially at this time of increasing commercial activities in the region.

And Ibrahim Al-Oqaily, head of the Customs Clearance Committee at the chamber, said he had received several complaints from traders about the late arrivals of their shipments, resulting in heavy losses.

Al-Oqaily warned that the crisis at the port would affect businesses in the kingdom.

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READERS' COMMENTS

I dont believe u
Posted by aqib, UAE on Tuesday 9 September 2008 at 13:49 UAE time

These are just false assurances that swift solutions will be carried out .Just 2 days ago ,it was reported that Jebel Ali Port (Dubai Port) is suffering from the same FIASCO AND Let me remind you that this mess has been continuing since 2 months with no attitude of corrective measures used.
All in all ,it sums to only one thing : the authorities give no attention to businesses - just keep milking us.

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