Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani), represented by the Jeddah Islamic Port, has been awarded 'Best Seaport of the Year 2022' at the 7th edition of the International Green Shipping Summit held recently in Dutch port city of Rotterdam. 

 

The best-seaport award came in recognition of the quality transformation and developments the Jeddah Islamic Port has been undergoing, which have contributed to increasing its operational and handling capacity as well as enhancing the maritime sector and the trade industry, said the statement from Mawani. 

 

The Saudi ports body said it also honours Mawani’s achievements in sustainability, clean energy and green shipping and its initiatives regarding the use of the latest technologies and innovative solutions to ensure an environment-friendly maritime industry, it stated.

 

Along with the Best Seaport award, Mawani also received the top honours for Digital Transition at the global event held in the Dutch city from February 15 to 16.

 

"What made the win special for us was the fact that Jeddah Islamic Port won the Best Port Award beating key European ports such as Rotterdam and Hamburg," said a company spokesman.

 

"The Jeddah port is constantly boosting its operational capabilities with key steps such as the installation of 12 modern and eco-friendly cranes, designed as per the latest technologies and international standards, and by using 'remote' operating systems for container handling in the southern and northern container terminals in support of clean energy," he stated.

 

According to Mawani, the top honour comes following the successes achieved by the Jeddah Port, including bagging the 8th place it had secured in the global Container Port Performance Index (CPPI), developed by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence.

 

It is also in acknowledgment of the development programmes and investment plans witnessed at the port, including the signing of agreements with strategic partners to establish five logistics regions and introduce new shipping services which have their contributions to the kingdom’s securing the highest post at the regional level in the Liner Shipping Connectivity Index (UNCTAD) for 2022.

 

On the Digital Transition Award, Mawani said this had come in recognition of the quality transformations it had undergone last year and relevant initiatives, including the “Smart Port Initiative” to automate operational processes in Saudi ports using the 5th generation technologies and artificial intelligence programmes.

 

Also, the port had implemented innovative digital programmes that enhance technical connectivity, developing port community management systems to achieve expansion of services provided in Saudi ports and double them from 46 current services to 150 targeted services.

 

The Digital Transition Award that Mawani received was one of the seven awards of the Global Maritime and Logistics Summit, it added.-TradeArabia News Service