The largest single-site logistics and services facility in the Middle East has been opened at Jeddah Islamic Port.

Maersk and the General Ports Authority of Saudi Arabia (Mawani) announced the opening of a $250m, 225,000 sq m logistics facility at Jeddah Islamic Port.

AP Moller – Maersk CEO Vincent Clerc and other Maersk regional leaders joined the Minister of Transport and Logistics Services, HE Eng. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser, Chairman of Saudi Ports Authority HE Omar bin Talal Hariri, and leadership from Unilever at the site’s opening.

The extensive park provides a list of services under one roof, including: multi-modal connectivity between ocean, land and air transport; warehousing solutions catering for B2B and e-commerce requirements; temperature-controlled warehousing; custom-bonded setup; distribution solutions including first- and last-mile deliveries; customs clearances, visibility solutions and control tower.

The facility in Saudi Arabia was designed to accommodate industries and verticals such as fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), frozen food, automotive, retail & lifestyle, petrochemicals, electronics, and pharmaceuticals.

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Up to 70% of the electricity for the site will be drawn from 32,000 solar panels installed over 64,000 sq m on its rooftop, and electric equipment and electric trucks will be used in the facility.

In a bid to support workforce diversity in the male-dominated logistics and supply chain sector, Maersk established an in-house women’s academy providing tailored training programmes and career development support.

“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,” said Al-Jasser.

“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,” said Hariri.

“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 decarbonisation journey forward,” said Clerc.