EGA, Abu Dhabi Ports welcome largest bulk cargo ship to ever call at Khalifa Port

• Cape Taweelah is first fully-laden Capesize to call at any GCC port. Arrival follows completion of dredging works to the Khalifa Port approach channel by Abu Dhabi Ports.
• New capabilities of Khalifa Port cements Abu Dhabi’s position as a global maritime and investment hub

Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, today announced the arrival of the first fully-laden Capesize vessel to call at any GCC port at its quay at Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi, inaugurating the import of bauxite for EGA’s new Al Taweelah alumina refinery using these huge bulk cargo vessels.

EGA imports bauxite ore from the Republic of Guinea to supply Al Taweelah alumina refinery, and using Capesize vessels reduces shipping costs per tonne.

Abu Dhabi Ports has modified the approaches to Khalifa Port to accommodate Capesize vessels bound for EGA, making it the first port in the Gulf able to accommodate these fully-loaded ships. The approaches have been deepened from 16.5 metres to 18.5 metres draft and widened from 250 metres to 280 metres.

With a draft of 18.2 metres fully-laden, Capesize vessels are amongst the largest bulk cargo ships in the world.

At other ports, Capesize vessels must be partially unloaded offshore before they can dock at the port safely.

The enhanced capability of Khalifa Port enables new trade opportunities, supporting other local industries and boosting Abu Dhabi as a regional maritime hub. Last month, the world’s largest container ship MV Solar berthed at Khalifa Port for the first time.

Capesize vessels are up to 300 metres long – more than the length of two football fields – and 50 metres wide. They can carry around 180,000 tonnes of bauxite ore.

Abdulla Kalban, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said: “The arrival of Cape Taweelah is a landmark moment for EGA, but these huge ships will become a familiar sight at Khalifa Port over the years ahead. We are glad Abu Dhabi Ports addressed our need to bring Capesize vessels to our quay and decided to further develop the capabilities of Khalifa Port, also benefitting trade in Abu Dhabi and the UAE more broadly.”

Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Ports, said: “Welcoming this  Capesize ship at EGA marks another first for Abu Dhabi’s maritime and trade industry, and demonstrates our commitment to ongoing innovation and expansion in response to market and tenant demands. Our investment in deepening and widening the channel has created better business opportunities for all partners, including CSP Abu Dhabi, which recently received one of the largest container vessels at Khalifa Port with a capacity of 21,000 TEU.”

EGA’s Al Taweelah alumina refinery is the first in the UAE and only the second in the Middle East. The plant converts bauxite ore into alumina, the feedstock for aluminium smelters, and is expected to meet 40 per cent of EGA’s alumina needs once fully ramped-up. EGA invested some $3.3 billion to build Al Taweelah alumina refinery, which began production in April.

Khalifa Port is located halfway between Abu Dhabi and Dubai and is one of the most efficient and technologically advanced in the world, currently serving 25 shipping lines. KIZAD, one the region’s largest industrial zones, and a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Ports, covers 410 square kilometres adjacent to Khalifa Port.

Capesize vessels are too large to transit the Panama Canal and must round the southernmost point of mainland South America (Cape Horn) to transit between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Historically they were also too large to transit the Suez Canal.

Cape Taweelah, is operated by the shipping company K-Line and UAE local agent Sharaf Shipping, and is one of several Capesize vessels built to transport EGA’s bauxite to the UAE.

-Ends-

Simon Buerk
sbuerk@ega.ae
056 3111 536
Fatima Al Mutawa
falmutawa@ega.ae
050 327 7545

ADPC contacts
Abu Dhabi Ports Media Office
Email: media@adports.ae
Mobile: +971 50 844 5691 

About EGA
Emirates Global Aluminium is equally-owned by Mubadala Investment Company of Abu Dhabi and the Investment Corporation of Dubai.

It is the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside the oil and gas industry, and the largest company jointly owned by the two Emirates.

EGA’s aluminium is the second largest made-in-the UAE export after oil and gas. In 2018, EGA produced 2.6 million tonnes of cast metal. EGA is the only UAE producer and makes the UAE the fifth largest aluminium producing nation in the world.

EGA has more than 350 customers in over 60 countries. Over 80 per cent of EGA’s production is value added products, one of the highest proportions of any aluminium company in the world.

EGA’s aluminium is primarily used in the construction, automotive, packaging, aerospace and electronics industries.

Over 10 per cent of EGA’s production is sold in the UAE to around 26 downstream aluminium companies that make products with EGA’s aluminium. The growing broader aluminium sector in the UAE supports 60,950 jobs.

EGA itself employs over 7,000 of these people including almost 1,200 UAE Nationals.

EGA has focused on technology development for over 25 years. EGA has used its own technology for every smelter expansion since the 1990s and has retrofitted all its older production lines. In 2016 EGA became the first UAE industrial company to licence its core industrial process technology internationally.

As a corporate citizen of the UAE, Emirates Global Aluminium aspires in all its operations to be measured amongst the world’s leading metals and mining companies in meeting its environmental and social responsibilities.

In 2017, EGA became the first Middle East headquartered company to join the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, a global programme to foster greater sustainability and transparency in the aluminium industry.

EGA was formed in 2014 through the merger of Dubai Aluminium and Emirates Aluminium.

DUBAL’s Jebel Ali aluminium smelter began production in 1979. At almost five square kilometres, EGA’s Jebel Ali site is five times bigger than Dubai Mall.

EMAL started production in 2009 and its Al Taweelah aluminium smelter was the largest single-site aluminium smelter in the world when completed. EGA’s Al Taweelah site is five times bigger than Al Maryah Island at six square kilometres.

EGA has its own power stations at both sites, producing electricity to meet its needs. EGA’s electricity generation capacity is 5,450 megawatts, making EGA the third largest electricity generator in the UAE after the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority.

EGA also produces water through desalination units at its power plants.

Today EGA is expanding upstream and internationally to secure the natural resources the UAE’s aluminium industry needs and create new revenue streams.

EGA’s wholly-owned subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation is building a bauxite mine and associated export infrastructure in the Republic of Guinea in West Africa, in one of the largest greenfield investments in that country in over 40 years.

In the UAE, EGA has built the country’s first alumina refinery at Al Taweelah. The project reduces the UAE’s dependence on imported alumina and will supply 40 per cent of EGA’s needs once fully ramped-up. 

For more information on EGA please visit www.ega.ae.   

About Abu Dhabi Ports
Established in 2006, Abu Dhabi Ports is the master developer, operator and manager of commercial and community ports within the emirate of Abu Dhabi, in addition to the Port of Fujairah. It is also the owner of trade and logistics hub Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD), in which Khalifa Port Free Trade Zone attracts direct investments to over 100 km2 of free zone opportunities, the largest in the Middle East region.

Inaugurated on Dec 12, 2012 by President of the UAE, HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Khalifa Port is the flagship port of Abu Dhabi Ports and is considered to be the first semi-automated container port in the region. Abu Dhabi Ports also owns 50% of Abu Dhabi Terminals, which operates and manages Khalifa Port Container Terminal with a full suite of logistics solutions to benefit trade partners and shipping lines. In addition to the current capacity of 2.5 million TEUs, the recent deal Abu Dhabi Ports signed with COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited, which commenced operations at CSP Abu Dhabi Terminal in 2019, will raise the annual capacity to 9.1 million TEUs in both container terminals.

Abu Dhabi Ports’ subsidiaries include Abu Dhabi Marine Services “SAFEEN”, providing a comprehensive range of marine, navigational and ancillary quayside services as well as VTS Services and fleet maintenance in a safe, secure and efficient manner; Maqta Gateway, developer and operator of the first port community in the emirate; and Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal, the first permanent cruise terminal in the region. To meet the increasing demand of cruise liners and passengers, Sir Bani Yas Cruise Beach was developed, offering cruise ship passengers a new beach destination with unmatched tourism experiences. Additionally, Abu Dhabi Ports also manages the Maritime Training Centre at Musaffah Port.

© Press Release 2019