With an investment of US$250m, Maersk has opened its largest logistics park at Jeddah Islamic Port in Saudi Arabia. The company states that the 225,000m2 facility is the largest single-site logistics and services facility in the Middle East.
The Maersk Logistics Park has the provision for: multi-modal connectivity between ocean, land and air transportation; warehousing solutions catering for B2B and e-commerce requirements; temperature-controlled warehousing; custom-bonded setup; distribution solutions that include first- and last-mile deliveries; and customs clearances, visibility solutions and a control tower. It has also been specifically designed for a wide range of industries and verticals, including FMCG, frozen food, automotive, retail and lifestyle, petrochemicals, electronics and pharmaceuticals.
To support Maersk’s ambitions to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, the facility will draw up to 70% of its electricity from 32,000 solar panels installed over 64,000m2 on the rooftop. The Maersk Logistics Park will also use electric equipment and electric trucks within the facility, and have low electricity-consumption LED lighting optimized with light sensors.
Maersk Logistics Park has been built at the Jeddah Islamic Port, which has an advanced infrastructure with berths capable of accommodating new generations of giant ships, and modern, automated, environmentally friendly equipment that contributes to raising the efficiency of its operations and competitiveness and increasing its capacity.
Additionally, Maersk has established an in-house women’s academy to offer tailored training programs to ensure stronger diversity and inclusion. Through this academy, women will be empowered to work in the logistics and supply chain sector through specialized training and career development. Besides training and mentorship, this academy also strives to create a supportive environment for Saudi Arabian women to thrive in what the company highlights is a male-dominated industry.
Built on the foundation of ‘Safety by Design,’ the facility has firefighting systems, segregated paths for pedestrians and equipment and comprehensive surveillance camera systems, among other safety measures.
The inauguration ceremony was held in the presence of His Excellency the Minister of Transport and Logistics Services, chairman of the board of directors of the General Ports Authority, Engineer Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser; His Excellency the chairman of the Authority, Omar bin Talal Hariri; AP Moller – Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc; Richard Morgan, managing director, Maersk Indian Subcontinent, Middle East and Africa; Mohammad Shihab, managing director, Maersk Saudi Arabia; Ahmed Kudous, head of supply chain personal care Middle East and Turkey, and head of customer operations GCC, Unilever; and other senior officials.
Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, Minister of Transport and Logistics Services and chairman of the board of directors of the General Ports Authority, commented, “The Saudi ports sector is witnessing major and unprecedented leaps, in terms of high operational performance efficiency, achieving records in international indicators, growing maritime navigation lines and increasing maritime connectivity with the countries of the world. The Maersk Logistics Park at Jeddah Islamic Port will contribute to service and development in supporting economic activity in the kingdom and providing highly efficient logistics services to support the movement of trade and export to foreign markets and enhance the work of supply chains and logistics.”
His Excellency Omar bin Talal Hariri, president of the General Authority of Ports, added, “These solutions work to connect and facilitate the supply chains, which contributes to achieving qualitative leaps in the operational performance of the ports and enhances the capabilities of the logistics sector and global trade movement.”
Vincent Clerc, CEO of Maersk, stated, “The Maersk Logistics Park represents a significant milestone for Maersk. It is a testament to our commitment to be an enabler of global trade in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which sits strategically at the crossroads of three continents. I am proud to see that our Logistics Park in Jeddah has become a living example of our integrated logistics strategy, supporting our customers with resilient logistics while implementing the right initiatives to take our decarbonization journey forward.”
Ahmed Kadous, head of supply chain personal care Middle East and Turkey at Unilever, said, “Through our strategic partnership with Maersk, we are now consolidating our logistics operations into one hub, which will help reduce our energy consumption and CO2 emission, moving us closer to Unilever’s sustainability ambition of achieving net-zero emissions across our value chain by 2039. We will continue to harness the power of our brands, our people and our partners through collaborative actions that will positively impact societies and the planet. As we witness how this collaboration with Maersk is contributing to the logistics ambition of Saudi Vision 2030, Unilever remains committed to the kingdom and will continue to invest in its growth and empowering local and diverse talent.”