The City of Aden draws its vitality
from the Port of Aden. The story of Aden as a trading centre stretches back over
3000 years. Marco Polo and Ibn Batuta visited it in the 11th and 12th
Centuries. In the 1800's, Aden grew as ship fuelling port, holding stocks
of coal and water supplies for the early steamers. Port services expanded after
the Suez Canal opened in 1869 as Aden grew to become, by the 1950’s,
one of the busiest ship bunkering and tax-free-shopping and trading ports in the
world. Barges moved cargoes between ships berthed in the Inner Harbour and the
wharves. Coastal vessels and dhows carried cargoes to and from regional ports.
Landing Cable at Aden from the great eastren ,2 march
1879 /courtecy cable and Wireless pls
In the 1970's, with the Suez
Canal closed until
1975, Aden declined under intense competition from new ports in the
region and changes in the patterns of trade. New quays were urgently needed at
Aden to serve modern cargo demands. These were built at the end of the 1980's
at the "Ma'alla Terminal". After over 150 years of commercial activity, Aden
finally had the capacity and equipment to handle all types of dry cargo at deep
alongside berths served by ssmodern container cranes.
Unity
in 1990 formed a nation of some 15 million people with the benefits
of growing oil production and large gas reserves. Significant and positive
changes in the country are leading to rapid privatization, higher investment and
growing manufacturing output to meet national and overseas demand. The
advantages of Aden for container transshipment have been recognized and
throughput at the Ma'alla Terminal grew from less than 10,000 TEU's in 1994 to
over 1998/99.
Aden Container Terminal (ACT)
Aden is recognized as a national
resource with great potential, described as "Yemen's Gateway to the World". To
handle the world's largest container vessels, the Aden Container Terminal
(ACT) at the North Shore of Aden's Inner Harbour was designed and built.
This facility was commissioned in March
1999 and provides the port with world-class container handling
facilities.
ACT's throughput reached 500,000 TEU's/year in 2008 and is
forecast to grow significantly in future.
The construction of the ACT and
the recent joint venture with between the Ports Corporation and Dubai World
Ports are signs that Aden is moving forward. Aden,
as a port and as a city, in one of the most interesting countries in the Middle
East, anticipates a dynamic and successful future.
