DP World has introduced a new coastal service for the UAE, connecting its Jebel Ali hub to other ports around the country in a bid to ease supply chain bottlenecks.
 
The inaugural shipment of roughly 200 TEUs sailed from the Jebel Ali Port to the Port of Ajman and arrived on the October 7.

DP World said in a statement that the new routes are serviced by a fleet of modified Multi-Carrying Vessels (MCV) to bypass congestion by calling smaller berths.

The shallow draft vessels use less space and can access areas of ports, where larger ships cannot fit due to their size and length and can turn around at least twice as fast as larger vessels on shortsea routes.

It added that this is particularly useful when connecting UAE coastal feeder ports with hub ports.
 
"The addition of marine services to the UAE's 700-km Arabian Gulf coastline, gives customers more efficient access to Jebel Ali Port, and potentially cuts transit times by days," DP World said.

It added that initial shipments will focus on moving food imports into the UAE with its reefer capabilities, and moving commodities such as cement, out of it.

DP World further said that by moving additional volumes of containerised cargo between Jebel Ali and other ports in the UAE, the port operator will connect customers and main line carriers to an integrated ecosystem at the Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), which connects to more than 150 ports worldwide and serves more than 3.5 billion people globally.
 
"We've created this new coastal service to better support our customers in the UAE region and mitigate the rapidly increasing costs of trade. Our hope is that our customers can enjoy a more seamless and sustainable solution along the coast of the UAE, as well as secure better access to our global hub, Jebel Ali," said Jesper Kristensen, group chief operating officer, Marine Services at DP World.
 
DP World created its Marine Services combining its maritime solutions and feedering expertise from its marine businesses including Unifeeder and P&O Maritime Logistics to relieve stretched supply chains.
 
The service starts with 2-3 calls per week, with a focus on connecting the UAE to the wider Middle East, Africa, the Indian Subcontinent and Far East.
 
For the next phase of development, DP World will deploy additional MCVs and add more port calls along the UAE coast.

The port operator noted that the focal point will remain the Port of Jebel Ali, thereby strengthening the competitiveness of the port and the trade capability of the UAE at large.