Congestion zone

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Are Middle Eastern ports struggling to cope with a boom in cargo volume?

Port congestion has been a growing challenge for the shipping industry. Found in all corners of the globe, it is particularly prevalent where the speedy growth of a country's trade has outpaced that of its infrastructure development.

It is no wonder, therefore, that some of the region's ports have been falling victim to the booming trade of the Middle East. Most recently, the well-respected ports of Jebel Ali in Dubai and Jeddah Islamic Port in Saudi Arabia have come under fire over increasing port congestion, leading to a clog-up in their terminals and costly delays in cargo movement.

As one of the most profitable hubs in the region, Jebel Ali port has been paying this price for the success of Dubai's thriving shipping industry. "The root cause of the congestion is the unprecedented growth in volumes in the Middle East region, which is causing vessel delays," says Mohammed Al Muallem, senior vice president and managing director of the UAE region for DP World, the port's operator.

"Judging from our half-yearly results in 2008, our business has continued to report growth over the comparable period last year, with this trend of outperforming the industry set to continue throughout the year."

Whilst this growth has been good news for the company, it has had an inevitable knock-on effect in terms of port operations. "As an example, in our flagship terminal at Jebel Ali, 80% of all ships arrive out of their windows and containers are being left on the terminal for much longer than normal," Al Muallem explains. "These then stack up and take time to clear."

Not surprisingly, DP World has leapt to tackle the issue of port congestion head-on by investing heavily in its infrastructure. As part of this, the operator has ordered new equipment, doubling the number of tandem lift cranes and taking the number of RMGs at the terminal up to 38. Further equipment is due to be added to the terminal in coming months.

"We expect this to be fully operational in the first quarter of 2009. The second phase of Container Terminal 2 will deploy 29 tandem lift cranes and 60 RMGs," Al Muallem continues.

"The tandem lift cranes are capable of lifting four 20-foot containers (TEU) or two 40-foot containers simultaneously - a total capacity of 80 tonnes, which is twice that of traditional cranes." With the total capacity of Jebel Ali port predicted to grow to 14-15 million TEUs by the second quarter of 2009, Al Muallem strongly believes that the company will not be experiencing any congestion problems in any of its terminals in the future.

"We are working with our customers, both the shipping lines and local traders, to try to move the boxes off the terminal more quickly, and along with the new equipment we expect congestion problems to be sorted out fairly quickly," he says, optimistically.

Whilst capacity undoubtedly plays an essential role in tackling port congestion, many in the industry would argue that size is by no means the only solution. Delve deeper into the issue, and the real answer surely lies in adopting a better management process, with an emphasis on forecasting to allow ports to be better prepared to cope with fluctuating levels of traffic.

 "The best way to avoid port congestion is to anticipate future trends and avoid getting congested in the first place," agrees Keith Nuttall, commercial manager for Sharjah-based terminal operator, Gulftainer Company.

"This is achieved by monitoring port capacity and operational capability compared with the number and size of ships that lines wish to call. Clearly if the volumes of business and the number of ships exceed capacity, congestion and delays will result."

Gulftainer itself, together with Sharjah Port Authority, has worked hard to prepare for extra capacity ahead of future demands. With its reputation as one of the fastest container terminals in the world, the terminal operator is pleased that its Khorfakkan Container Terminal (KCT) has not experienced problems with port congestion, despite its increased throughput.

"Congestion is already a problem at several ports in the Middle East and Red Sea region and is likely to become more so," says Nuttall. "The main causes are much larger container ships, carrying much greater volumes to be handled at regional ports. Port and hinterland infrastructure is therefore under greater pressure and in some cases cannot cope."

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