Zayed Port 3.57

Zayed Port also referred to as Mina Zayed, is a commercial deep-water port owned by the Abu Dhabi Ports that serves Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Established in 1968, Zayed Port is located in the northeast section of Abu Dhabi city. It was officially inaugurated and became fully operational in 1972, and is named after Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the former President of the United Arab Emirates. The transfer of Zayed Port's container traffic to the newly developed US$7.2 billion Khalifa Port container terminal was completed in December 2012.GeographyZayed Port covers an area of 535 hectares and contains 21 berths with depths ranging from 6 to 15 metres and a total berth length of 4,375 metres. It's one of four major ports in the emirate: the city's Zayed Port remains the gateway for general cargo vessels, RORO (roll-on/roll-off) and is emerging as a destination for international luxury cruise ship tourism; the nearby Free Port caters to smaller vessels, tugs, barges and service crafts; Musaffah Port is located in the heart of the industrial township of Musaffah; while the new state-of-the-art Khalifa Port in Taweelah handles all the emirate's container shipping.HistoryIn light of the increasing importance of container shipping, a well-equipped container terminal was established at Zayed Port back in 1982. Covering an area of 41 hectares, the terminal had a storage capacity of 15,000 TEUs at any given time. Four deep water berths were provided with a total length of 931 metres and 15 metres depth. The berths were equipped with five 40-tonne cranes. As a result, Zayed Port's throughput in 1998 increased 34 per cent in container volume and 25 per cent in general cargo over 1997. The port's capacity to hold chilled, cool and frozen products was significantly increased when a 15,000 tone cold store became operational in 1999.