zoomImage Courtesy: King Abdullah Port

The owner and developer of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah Port, The Ports Development Company, has signed a SAR 2.7 billion (USD 719.8 million) financial deal for the development and expansion of the port’s facilities.

Under the agreement, signed with SABB and the Arab National Bank, The Ports Development Company (PDC) will work to provide proper financing for the next phase of expansion and development for the port’s southern basin, which includes an additional container terminal, a ro-ro terminal and a bulk cargo terminal.

The expansion works would increase the port’s total capacity to 6 million TEUs annually.

This comes alongside the development of the ro-ro terminal with a storage capacity of 600 thousand vehicles, and the bulk cargo terminal, which has the capacity of handling up to 3 million tons.

King Abdullah Port officials expect the first phase of bulk and ro-ro cargo terminals to be finalized by the beginning of 2017.

Furthermore, part of the funding will be dedicated to the development of logistical support spaces inside the port, according to PDC.

King Abdullah Port’s fourth pier was opened in May 2015 raising the port’s capacity to around 3 million containers. The pier, which was equipped with cranes that can carry up to 65 tons or 25 containers, pushed the number of handled TEUs to 1.3 million this year alone.