Jan 19 | 2022
Project Cargo Weighing 225 Tonnes Shipped From Saqr Port In UAE To Europe
Maritime logistics specialist Wilhelmsen Ships Service recently handled a large project cargo shipment at Saqr Port in the UAE’s northernmost emirate of Ras Al Khaimah.
The 11 oversized units weighing a combined 225 tonnes were destined for a refinery and petrochemical complex in Europe, Evon Mascarenhas, Wilhelmsen’s ships agency operations manager for Dubai, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah, told Breakbulk.
The largest piece, a 70-tonne distillation tower, measured 35 metres in length.
Saqr is the largest of four world-scale facilities controlled by Ras Al Khaimah-based RAK Ports, and the biggest bulk handling hub in the region.
RAK Ports also controls facilities at Al Jazeera, Al Jeer and Ras Al Khaimah. Saqr’s adjacent Maritime City with its several million square metres of available land is the only free zone in the region to have direct quayside access.
“Any vessels with more than seven metres in draft will have to come to Saqr Port to handle breakbulk and project cargo,” Mascarenhas said. “RAK Maritime City is where fabrication companies and plants are located, and any vessels with less than seven metres in draft can come to their own facility to handle cargo.”
Saqr Port, located 50 kilometres north of the city of Ras Al Khaimah close to the Strait of Hormuz, handles some 60 million tonnes per year of cargo – mainly bulk exports of aggregates, limestone, cement and clinker from the emirate’s extensive rock quarries.RAK Ports’ CEO Roger Clasquin recently told Breakbulk the group was eager to lure more project cargo from Ras Al Khaimah’s expanding fabrication cluster, which until now has used other hubs in the UAE to export and import.
The company is developing a new port on land currently used by quarry companies, with first usable infrastructure slated to be ready by early 2024, Clasquin said.
IMAGE 1: Loading the distillation tower at Saqr Port. CREDIT: Wilhelmson Group
IMAGE 2: Saqr Port/Free Zone. CREDIT: RAK Ports
Wilhelmsen Ships Service and RAK Ports will be exhibiting at Breakbulk Middle East 2022, taking place on 1-2 February. Click below to register for free. All attendees must pre-register.
