Aqaba port silos expansion reduces ship wait time, increases storage capacity

AMMAN — The grain silos project in Aqaba port has contributed to reducing the time of ship docking from 12 days to three days, which has in turn lowers waiting costs, improves work pace and raises the port’s competitiveness as a centre for reexporting grain from the Kingdom to neighbouring countries.

Executive Director of Ports Development and Construction at Aqaba Development Corporation, Mohammad Dardasawi, told the Jordan News Agency, Petra that the project is currently undergoing a new expansion to increase its capacity to 200,000 tonnes over several phases.

He pointed out that the expansion will allow Aqaba to become a centre for reexporting grains to neighbouring countries.

For his part, the Director of technical affairs and follow-up at the Jordan Silos and Supply General Company Osama Asakria said that the quantities brought ashore since the beginning of the project amounted to 2,600,000 tonnes of grain from a total of 52 ships.

He pointed out that the new expansion comes with a price tag of JD30,735,000 and incorporates the creation of a new unloading and loading device with the aim of increasing the port’s handling capacity.

In 2019, the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority demolished 75 grain silos with a 100,000-tonne capacity, with the aim of establishing a tourist project in their place and building 100 new silos in the new port with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes of grain.