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Gulftainer to redevelop Kuwait ports

Gulftainer, which operates the Khorfakkan and Sharjah container terminals in the UAE, is believed to submit a master plan to Kuwait Ports Authority (KPA) to redevelop Shuweikh and Shuwaiba ports. At present, there are three major commercial ports in Kuwait, including Shuweikh, Shuwaiba and Doha.

KPA is planning major new investments estimated at $100 million, to cater for Iraqi origin/destination flows. According to KPA recent reviews have highlighted the requirement to deepen the entrance channel to Shuweikh to allow larger vessels to utilise the facility, which is also considering transferring two harbour mobile cranes to the container terminal from another berth.

KPA intends to construct a new container terminal 1,200 metres long consisting of four berths with an alongside draft of 14.5 metres in the Port of Shuweikh. The new container berths will be constructed in two phases, which will ensure that two berths with 600 metres of frontage will be available by the beginning of 2006, whilst the second phase will be completed by 2007. A new computerised ship and yard planning container management system will be installed with ISPS compliant security systems. The new terminal when completed is expected to be one of the best in the world, according to KPA, which feels it will be the quickest solution to alleviate the foreseeable congestion due to increasing cargo volumes and serve the country’s needs for the next 30 years. Kuwait is also considering building a port on Bubiyan Island at an estimated cost of $850 million, industry sources said. The cabinet will study a feasibility report on the project following the regime change in Iraq, which is expected to lead to a big increase in the volume of containers shipped through the northern Gulf region, with estimates of a 45 per cent rise by 2020.

Industry sources say that current oil prices could provide a fillip for container ports in the Gulf. Higher demand for oil-based export products, aluminium and other products could generate higher loaded TEU (twenty feet equivalent unit) exports in the future and further reduce dependence on transhipment traffic. As vessels become bigger, the main focus is on transhipment hubs to be located on a more direct route between Europe and the Far East.