Saudi Arabia ranks fifth as world’s fastest in container ship handling per hour

Saudi Arabia ranks fifth as world’s fastest in container ship handling per hour

RIYADH “” Saudi Arabia ranked fifth as the world's fastest in container ship handling per hour, according to the UNCTAD annual index issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.With an average of 16.8 hours for container handling in Saudi ports, Saudi Arabia made its debut to the list of the world's top ten ports, according to the UNCTAD report for the year 2020.Saudi Ports Authority (MAWANI) has implemented a package of initiatives that contributed to this progress in joint cooperation with the General Directorate of Border Guards, Saudi Customs and Ministry of Health in accordance with international best practices that include cancelling the prerequisite approval to start up ship's handling operations, and containers unloading and loading, once the ship is anchored, and cancelling the previously required approval to allow the ship to continue its journey, suffice the issuance of an electronic port permit.Moreover, container loading and unloading handling productivity was improved following the signing of new container concession contracts in 2020, which included the Key Performance