Jeddah Islamic Port

Jeddah Islamic Port is located in the middle of an international shipping route between east and west. It is the largest and busiest port in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.OverviewThe port lies on the Red Sea coast at latitude 21° 28' north and longitude 39° 10' east. It is the Saudi's principal port serving the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The port serves the commercial centers through which 59% of the Saudi's imports by sea are being handled. The importance of Jeddah Port increased and reached its maximum limit when Saudi Arabia was developing into a modern country.The Port was established in September 1976 whereupon it started developing its facilities. The port has expanded from a modest 10 operational berths in 1976 to the 58 berths of international standard in service today.Jeddah Islamic Port occupies an area of 10.5 square kilometers and its deep water quays provide an overall berthing length of 11.2 kilometers with a maximum draft of 16 metres.The port can accommodate the latest generation of large container vessels with a capacity of 6500 TEUs.Timeline647 A.D. The third Muslim caliph Othman Ibn Affan establishes the fishing village of Jeddah as the seaport for nearby Mekkah.