27 May 2019
CSP Abu Dhabi Terminal, located in Khalifa Port in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), announced on Monday that it received two of the world's largest container mega-vessels in May.

The container terminal, which was inaugurated in December 2018 and started trial operations in April, is developed and operated by China's Cosco Shipping Ports (CSP) under a 35-year concession agreement with Abu Dhabi Ports (ADP).

The two ships -Solar and Pisces - were the third and fourth main line vessels to pass through the terminal since the start of trial operations, ADP said in a press statement.

The statement said the arrival of the ships, which started their journeys from Qingdao in China, highlights Abu Dhabi's position as a major trade hub along China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), noting that CSP Abu Dhabi Terminal connects the Khalifa Port to CSP's global terminal portfolio covering 285 berths at 37 ports worldwide.

According to the statement, the 21,000 TEU [Twenty-foot equivalent unit] Solar, which arrived on May 25, is the largest ship ever to call at Khalifa Port, beating the three-week old record set by the 20,000 TEU Pisces, which called on May 5. The two ships were preceded by the 14,000 TEU CSCL Mercury and the 19,000 TEU CSCL Globe in April.

The press statement quoted ADP CEO Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi as saying the use of mega-vessels to cut costs and time is a trend shaping the future of the shipping sector, while noting that the CSP Abu Dhabi Terminal is designed to handle the largest vessels "of today and adapt to those of tomorrow."

The statement said CSP has invested 1.1 billion UAE dirhams ($300 million) in capital expenditure on the terminal with annual designed capacity of 2.5 million TEU, 1,200 metres of quay and water depth of 18 metres, enabling it to accommodate mega-vessels in the 20,000 TEU range and above.

The deep-water, semi-automated container terminal includes the largest Container Freight Station (CFS) in the Middle East, covering 275,000 square metres, the statement added.

ADP plans to increase the capacity at Khalifa Port from the current five million TEU (totaling the capacities of Khalifa Port Terminal 1 and CSP Abu Dhabi Terminal) to 9.1 million TEUs over the next five years, according to fact sheet posted on the ADP website.

(Writing by Madhura Deulgaonkar; Editing by Anoop Menon)

(anoop.menon@refinitiv.com)

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