On January 5th, Abu Dhabi's port of Khalifa welcomed the vessel MV Dream Angel, which is operated by Nissan Motor Car Carrier, in what was the first call at the relatively new port for a car-carrying vessel.
The Dream Angel had arrived from the Japanese ports of Yokohama and Kanda with a consignment of 164 finished vehicles bound for Al Masaood Automobiles. This company is a major regional distributor for Nissan and Infiniti, making new vehicles available to car dealers across the UAE.
The call by the vessel marked a significant step for automotive logistics in the United Arab Emirates, since previously all car carriers docked at the mainland port of Mina Zayed, where existing facilities have been progressively switched to the greenfield development on the offshore Khalifa Island, given the lack of room at facilities on the main land to expand to meet growing demand.
Khalifa, which is managed by Abu Dhabi Ports, is additionally developing the local Kizad logistics area, which is adjacent to the port. This will provide a raft of services to logistics and manufacturing investors. It offers extensive multimodal connectivity via sea, air, road and rail.
The initial phase one development of Khalifa Port can handle up to 2.5m containers and 12m tons of general cargo, which includes finished vehicles. This latter figure will be expanded to 35m tons in line with market need.
