Vessel movement at Aqaba ports up by 18%

AMMAN — The vessel movement at Aqaba ports in the January-November period recorded an 18 per cent increase, Secretary General of the Jordan Navigation Syndicate (JNS) Captain Mohammad Dalabih said on Tuesday.

Dalabih told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that Aqaba in the first 11 months of the year received 1,703 vessels compared with 1,449 ships in the same period of 2020. He attributed this increase to resuming the movement of the Arab Bridge Maritime’s ships between Aqaba and Nuweiba. 

Dalabih said the 233,000 passengers travelled through the Aqaba port in the January-November period, compared with 72,000 last year. 

He added that a total of 680,000 imported and exported containers were handled at Aqaba port in the first 11 months of the year, compared with 782,000 containers in the same period of 2020.  This marked a decrease of 10 per cent as a result of global hikes in container shipment, he noted. 

The Aqaba port also received a total of 13.7 tonnes of goods in the January-November period, compared with 13.1 tonnes in the same period of last year, marking an increase of 5 per cent, the JNS official said.   

Dalabih added that the Aqaba port received a total of 101,773 vehicles, down by 2 per cent than the number received in the corresponding period of 2020, expecting the number to increase during December.

The JNS secretary general noted that these figures are considered positive as the world continues to be affected by the repercussions of the pandemic.