BAHRAIN last month officially inaugurated a new state-of-the-art superport which is expected to usher in a new era of commercial trade for the kingdom.

The Khalifa Bin Salman Port (KBSP) was opened in Hidd by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, further promoting Bahrain as a regional trading hub.

Operated by APM Terminals, the port is designed to handle 1.1 million TEUs per year. The port, which had already begun some operations earlier last year, was built at a cost of $362 million.

Aside from APM Terminals’ box handling facilities, Khalifa bin Salman Port also has facilities for general break-bulk, ro-ro and a separate cruise terminal.

Portworld reported forecasts in January 2008 expecting container throughput at the port to more than treble within five years of the port’s opening.

APM Terminals, which signed a 25-year concession for Khalifa Bin Salman and the existing port of Mina Salman in November 2006, had already invested more than $60 million in modern equipment and systems as of January 2008.

Mina Salman was officially handed over to APM Terminals in December 2006, in what was one of the largest privatisation projects in the region along with ownership of Khalifa Bin Salman.

APM Terminals’ 25-year concession to operate Bahrain’s commercial ports began with the construction of Khalifa bin Salman.

With approximately 900,000 sq m of land, Khalifa Bin Salman Port, also known as the Bahrain Gateway, will have substantial room for growth over current capacity at Mina Salman.

The port has been designed to handle post-Panamax vessels or container ships with capacity for up to 8,000 TEUs compared to the current maximum capacity for 3,000-TEU ships. The largest container ships that currently come into Gulf waters are 8,000 TEU ships.

“This increase in the size of ships we can bring into the port is the key to us expanding from a straightforward import/export port to become a transshipment hub for the upper Gulf,” said a senior APM Terminals Bahrain executive.

“At present transshipment is carried out at the Jebel Ali port in Dubai but the increased capacity we will have will make bringing the container ship to Bahrain, offloading and then transporting on feeder ships from here far more economic and quicker,” he observed.

He added that Khalifa Bin Salman Port is an ideal hub for the Northern Gulf because it is within a day’s steaming time of all the local ports.