Maersk joins Mawani to open $250mln logistics park at Jeddah

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AP Moller – Maersk (Maersk), a global shipping major headquartered in Denmark, has announced that it has joined hands with Saudi General Ports Authority of Saudi Arabia (Mawani) for opening of its largest logistics park in the Middle East at Jeddah Islamic Port.

The 225,000 sq m facility, which is the largest single-site logistics & services facility in the region, has built at an investment of $250 million, said Maersk in a statement.

The new logistics park will contribute to service and development in supporting economic activity in the kingdom and providing highly efficient logistics services to support the movement of trade and export to foreign markets and enhance the work of supply chains and logistics, it stated.

An eco-friendly complex, it will draw up to 70% of the electricity from 32,000 solar panels installed over 64,000 sq m. on the rooftop.

The Maersk Logistics Park will use electric equipment and electric trucks within the facility, have low electricity-consumption LED lighting optimised with light sensors, etc.

The inauguration ceremony was held in the presence of Engineer Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, the Minister of Transport and Logistics Services, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Ports Authority; Omar bin Talal Hariri, the Chairman of the Authority, Vincent Clerc, the CEO of AP Moller – Maersk, Richard Morgan, the Managing Director of Maersk Indian Subcontinent, Middle East and Africa; Mohammad Shihab, the Managing Director at Maersk Saudi Arabia; Ahmed Kudous, the Head of Supply Chain Personal Care Middle East and Turkey and Head of Customer Operations GCC, Unilever.

The Saudi ports sector is witnessing major and unprecedented leaps, in terms of high operational performance efficiency, achieving records in international indicators, growing maritime navigation lines and increasing maritime connectivity with the countries of the world, said Al Jasser.

Hariri lauded the role of the Logistics Park in supporting the growth of the logistics industry and economic and development activity through the logistical solutions it provides.

"These solutions work to connect and facilitate the supply chains, which contributes to achieving qualitative leaps in the operational performance of the ports and enhances the capabilities of the logistics sector and global trade movement," he noted.

Clerc pointed out that this new logistics park represented a significant milestone for Maersk.

"It is a testament to our commitment to be an enabler of global trade in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which sits strategically at the crossroads of three continents. I am proud to see that our Logistics Park in Jeddah has become a living example of our integrated logistics strategy, supporting our customers with resilient logistics while implementing the right initiatives to take our decarbonisation journey forward," he noted.

Maersk said safety was of paramount importance for the Danish group.

Built on the foundation of ‘Safety by Design,’ the facility boasts world-class firefighting systems, segregated paths for pedestrians and equipment, and comprehensive surveillance camera systems, among other safety measures.

The most modern and state-of-the-art implementations promote the safety of people as well as the customers’ cargo, it stated.

Maersk Logistics Park has been built at the Jeddah Islamic Port, which has an advanced infrastructure with berths capable of accommodating new generations of giant ships and modern, automated, environmentally friendly equipment that contributes to raising the efficiency of its operations and competitiveness and increasing its capacity, it added.