The Republic of Yemen, at
the south-west corner of the Arabian Peninsula,
has traded by land and sea since ancient times.
Mid-way between Europe and the Far East, Aden
lies on a major world trading route through
the Suez Canal. It is one of the largest natural
harbours in the world with an area of about
70 km2 of sheltered water surrounded by Jebel
Shamsan, Khormaksar, and the shore which extends
to the hills of Little Aden. The Port of Aden
consists of the Inner Harbour, the Oil Harbour
serving Aden Refinery and the anchorage and
approach channels of he Outer harbour.
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 a 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 one of the busiest ship bunkering
and tax-free-shopping and trading ports in
the world by the 1950's. Barges took cargo
between ships berthed in the Inner Harbour
and the wharves. Coastal vessels and dhows
carried cargoes to and from regional ports.
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 modern
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 transhipment have been recognized
and throughput at the Ma'alla Terminal has
grown from less than 10,000 TEU's in 1994
to over 100,000 in 1998/99.
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
is expected to increase from 500,000 TEU's/year
by 2001 to an anticipated 3 million plus early
in the next millennium.
The ACT is one of many 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.
