Arab News reports that governmental and business efforts to expand Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port facilities aren’t coming fast enough. Shipping is now leaving the Port of Jeddah without unloading because it is taking too long and running up bills for ‘waiting time’, as much as USD $80,000/day. Again, it’s not as bad as it was in the 1970s, but the system of shipping has changed over that time as well. Now, ships move faster and farther and cannot sit around a port waiting for berthing space. They need to move cargo and then get to the next port of call.

Several ships leave Jeddah port due to lack of wharfs

JEDDAH: Several ships left the Jeddah Islamic Port (JIP) after waiting for three or more days for permission to enter, reported Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper.

“About six cargo ships left the Ghatis area outside the JIP without getting entry permission. The vessels had waited there for three or more days. The ships were not given permission because there were no free wharfs and there was a shortage of workers,” said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The ships did not want to pay higher waiting charges — the charges would have risen manifold due to prolonged waiting and unloading delay had the ships waited any longer.”

He added that a container ship, unlike a cargo ship, has to pay $80,000 for a single day’s waiting. The situation has worsened because of the lack of wharfs to accommodate the large number of ships waiting for entry.
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