In case the Kingdom is one of your options to start your import process. It is important to get acquainted with the list of Saudi seaports because the option of importing by sea is the most important shipping option from countries of the world to Saudi Arabia. Also, choosing the right port is of great importance that we will review at the end of the article. Therefore, I say you are safe with our article, which identifies the most important ports of Saudi Arabia and their features. This makes the task of choosing a port clearer and easier.

6 Major Saudi Arabian Ports On The Red Sea

Jeddah Islamic Port

Jeddah Port is the first on the Red Sea coast in the field of maritime transit trade and transshipment of containers and goods, and is the largest port among Saudi ports in terms of volume and handling, through which more than 65% of the goods received through Saudi ports are handled.

The port is an important global container handling hub on the Red Sea, through which 13.5% of international maritime trade passes, and extends over an area of 12.5 square kilometers, with a capacity of more than 130 million tons and 7.5 million containers annually.

The port has 3 terminals for container, general cargo, passengers, livestock and bulk grain handling, and has 62 berths with a length of 12.3 kilometers with deep water up to 18 meters, and the berths accommodate the latest generation of container ships with a load capacity of more than 14,000 standard containers.

The port receives about 5,000 ships annually, and has a logistics area for depository and re-export services that includes handling equipment, and the number of equipment provided for handling goods at the port is more than 1,752 modern equipment.

The storage areas in the port amount to 3.9 square kilometers of the total port area, including open storage areas of about 3.5 square kilometers, and others covered by about 0.4 square kilometers, consisting of 59 warehouses and transit umbrellas.

King Fahd Industrial Port In Yanbu

It is considered the largest port in loading crude oil, refined products and petrochemicals on the Red Sea, and was built specifically for the export of crude petroleum and its refined derivatives, liquid and solid petrochemicals to global markets, and the import of the needs of industrial complexes of equipment and mechanisms.

King Fahd Industrial Port in Yanbu is one of the longest industrial ports in the world, stretching over 15 kilometers along the Red Sea coast, and is the most important Saudi industrial port.

The port occupies an area of 6.8 square kilometers, contains 34 berths and 10 terminals, with a capacity of 210 million tons per year, and ships receive a load of up to 500,000 tons.

The port has a modern fleet, a general cargo and container terminal, 4 warehouses each providing a storage space of 9,000 square meters, in addition to a dedicated container storage area of 275,000 square meters.

The port also includes cargo facilities, containers and berths, a bulk terminal, container warehouses and warehouses, as well as 15 tugboats and 18 auxiliary boats.

Jazan Port

Jazan Port is Saudi Arabia’s third port in terms of design capacity on the Red Sea coast, and the largest Saudi port in receiving livestock from the Horn of Africa.

Yanbu Commercial Port

Yanbu Commercial Port is one of the oldest Saudi ports on the Red Sea, it was opened during the reign of King Faisal – may God have mercy on him – in 1965, Yanbu Commercial Port mediates King Fahd Industrial Port and Jeddah in the south and Duba Port in the north, and it is an important sea port for nearby areas such as Medina and Qassim, and is also used as a gateway for the arrival and departure of pilgrims.

Yanbu Commercial Port has 12 berths, with a capacity of more than 13.5 million tons per year, with a passenger terminal with a capacity of about 1,500 passengers.

Duba Port

It is the closest Saudi port to the Suez Canal, and therefore the closest to the ports of the Mediterranean countries, and plays an important role in transporting passengers and travelers by sea to and from Saudi Arabia.

The port extends over an area of approximately 12,000 square kilometers, and has 8 berths with a length of 1,350 meters and a depth of 15 meters, and contains 3 terminals with a capacity of 10 million tons, and includes covered storage areas with an area of 12,000 square meters.

The port receives passenger and ro-ro ships for passenger and car transport, bulk cargo ships and general cargo, and contains a marine control tower to supervise the movement of incoming, departing and transit ships.

The importance of choosing the right port will help you succeed in your trade, the more accurate your choice of ports approved in the import process, the more you will be able to control the details of this process in terms of cost, time and speed in the arrival of goods and customs procedures.

That is, choosing a port close to the location of your warehouse and a port that facilitates the reception and clearance of goods will make it easier for you to obtain the appropriate profits from the import process and achieve your goals from the trade you carry out.

Ports that are unable to integrate and adapt technology into their operations will not be able to continue to compete with other ports, because new technologies make ports and ships more productive and autonomous, and contribute to energy savings.

The port spans an area of 4.2 square kilometers and contains 12 commercial berths with a total length of 2,172 meters to handle all types of goods, with depths ranging from 10-12 meters at the lowest sea level.

The port includes modern equipment for handling cargo and marine pieces, a control tower, an 80-nautical-mile navigation channel, in addition to 8 marine vessels consisting of tugs, service boats and an oil separation and collection vessel.

The port has 6 general cargo warehouses with an area of 25,200 square meters, a hazardous materials warehouse of about 1,500 square meters, and a live livestock shed of 1,860 square meters.

Jazan Port also includes 8 open storage yards with a total area of 202,807 square meters, and a container storage yard with a total area of 122,000 square meters.

King Abdullah Port

Located in Rabigh within King Abdullah Economic City, King Abdullah Port is a commercial port inaugurated by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in February 2019.

Established based on an ambitious vision to receive modern and giant ships and accommodate the increase and growth of Saudi exports to global markets, the port is the first port to be managed and developed by the Saudi private sector.

The port’s location is completely strategic, as it serves several markets, as it is an attractive factor for trade exchange between the two continents, Asia and Europe, as well as trade exchange between the countries of the Middle East and the Arabian Gulf.

The port is located in close proximity to industrial projects in Jeddah, Yanbu, Rabigh and densely populated areas such as Makkah and Madinah.

King Abdullah Port has several partnerships with the world’s largest shipping lines such as Maersk, MSC and CMA CGM.

King Abdullah Port joined the list of the 100 largest container ports in the world, achieving the second most efficient container port in the world in 2021.

The port receives more than 13% of global trade, and is the first Saudi port to implement the 24-hour cargo clearance plan, as the port aims to reduce the duration of containers to only three days.

Saudi Arabia’s 5 Most Important Ports In The Arabian Gulf

King Abdulaziz Port

King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam is the main port of Saudi Arabia on the Arabian Gulf, and is the main gateway for the entry of goods from all over the world to the eastern and central regions of the Kingdom.

The port extends over an area of 19 square kilometers, and contains 3 terminals, and 43 fully equipped berths, so that it can receive giant ships with a capacity of 105 million tons, as it is one of the most important Saudi ports.

The port handles different types of cargo including container cargo, general cargo, raw materials, bulk grains, edible oils, cement and clinker, refrigerants, and ro-ro cargo.

The port includes modern handling equipment for handling various types of cargo, as well as a number of support stations for containers and general cargo, a refrigerated cargo terminal, two cement terminals, a bulk grain terminal and an iron ore handling terminal.

King Abdulaziz Port has a ship repair facility, which includes two floating docks, which can accommodate ships up to 215 meters in length.

Jubail Commercial Port

The port supporting King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam is considered to support commercial movement and overlooks the Arabian Gulf, the gateway for Saudi exports and imports to global markets, and extends over an area of 4.2 square kilometers.

The port contains 16 berths to receive general and bulk cargo ships and containers, and 4 terminals with a capacity of 36 million tons, as well as open and covered yards and storage warehouses to accommodate incoming and outgoing goods and equipment.

The port has a fleet of naval vessels, such as tugboats, pilot boats and mooring boats, to conduct maneuvers to dock and depart ships at any time in various weather conditions without delay.

King Fahd Industrial Port In Jubail

It is the largest industrial port in the Middle East and is one of the most important Saudi ports, designed to import raw materials required by local industries, and export industrial products such as petrochemicals, refined petroleum products, chemical fertilizers and sulfur.

The port is the main outlet for petrochemical products produced in Jubail Industrial City, and extends over an area of 6.8 square kilometers, and contains 34 berths, and 5 terminals, with a capacity of 70 million tons.

Ras Tanura Port

Ras Tanura is a vital oil port and the world’s largest oil shipping port, through which more than 90% of Saudi Arabia’s exports of crude oil and other refined products are shipped.

The port has an export capacity of 6.5 million barrels per day, equivalent to 7% of global oil demand, and includes an oil tank yard with a capacity of 33 million barrels, and 4 artificial islands to load 6 tankers with a load of up to 500,000 tons at one time.

Ras Tanura Port contains a refinery that serves hydrocarbons, and the refinery provides a refining capacity of 500,000 barrels per day, and the port consists of two main berths that extend over the waters of the Arabian Gulf, in addition to an artificial island.

In details, the port includes the North Pier with a length of 670 meters and a width of 33 meters, which consists of 6 berths, and the water depth ranges between 12.8-15.2 meters at the time of the islands.

The southern pier is 366 meters long and 32 meters wide, and consists of 4 berths to receive ships and tankers, with a load of up to 30,000 tons, and the water depth in the pier ranges between 9.90-10.06 meters at island times.

As for the artificial island, it is 1,708 meters northeast of the North Pier, and about 3,200 meters from the shore, and consists of 8 berths that receive oil tankers and ships.

Ras Al Khair Port

Ras Al-Khair Port is one of the main pillars in the Saudi economy, as it serves vital programs and projects in the Ras Al-Khair Industrial Area, and is the latest Saudi industrial port, the port is linked via a railway line to mining mines, through which products are exported to global markets

The port includes fourteen berths, serves more than a hundred projects in Ras Al Khair Industrial City, with a capacity of 35 million tons, and is equipped with the latest tools and equipment necessary for the transport and handling of goods of all kinds.