While Jeddah has been Saudi Arabia's leading maritime gateway for a very long time, it has largely failed to become the Red Sea's regional hub that its location so richly deserves. But as John Fossey reports, this may be about to change. There is no question about Jeddah's strategic position in the Red Sea. It is located close to the main east/west shipping routes, just 650 nautical miles from the southern entrance of the Suez canal. With deep water (15/16m) at its main container handling berths, a choice of container terminal operating company and a relatively large local (Saudi Arabia) cargo base on which to build one would expect Jeddah to be among the biggest regional hub ports in the world.
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