AD Ports Group and Transmar International Shipping Company (Transmar) have announced the launch of a new container shipping service connecting Karachi, Pakistan’s busiest port, to the leading maritime economies of the Middle East and East Africa. The new route will help AD Ports Group achieve its strategic goal of enhancing regional and global connections.
The new route would connect Karachi Port to AD Ports Group’s flagship Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi, as well as Jebel Ali Port in Dubai, Dammam and Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Aqaba in Jordan, Sokhna and Adabiya in Egypt, and Port Sudan and Djibouti.
Captain Ammar Mubarak Al Shaiba, Acting CEO of Maritime Cluster and SAFEEN Group of AD Ports Group, says, “AD Ports Group is working to continuously improve the level of excellence, efficiency and connectivity available to our customers, leveraging the synergies of our recent acquisitions and the high level of support provided by our integrated team. The new weekly service will connect Pakistan’s busiest port with key maritime hubs across the Gulf, Red Sea, and East Africa, enabling the region to foster and increase integrated and collaborative trading partnerships.”
Karachi Port is a vital commercial hub that handles nearly 60% of Pakistan’s freight, averaging 26 million tons of cargo each year. The deep natural port has an 11-kilometre approach canal that allows boats up to 75,000 tonnes of deadweight to navigate safely. The new Pakistan route follows AD Ports Group’s September 2022 acquisition of a 70% stake in Egypt-based Transmar and Transcargo International SAE (TCI).
The new service uses Transmar containers on slots provided mostly by sister AD Ports Group firms SAFEEN Feeders and Global Feeder Shipping (GFS), which it bought earlier this month. AD Ports Group aims to dramatically improve connections across the area by exploiting synergies amongst its firms.
Ahmed El Ahwal, Managing Director of Transmar International Shipping Company, adds, “As a result of AD Ports Group’s shareholding in Transmar, we are pleased to be able to offer customers across the Middle East and East Africa greater connectivity to Karachi. As it is one of the largest ports in South Asia, it will help enable Pakistan customers to reach a wide range of key markets.”
Lastly, Pakistan and the UAE enjoy a dynamic economic relationship, with bilateral trade in 2021-22 between the two countries valued at approximately US$ 10 billion. In 2020, the top exports from Pakistan to the UAE were US$ 122 million in gold and US$ 109 million in beef. Top exports in 2020 from the UAE to Pakistan were US$ 2.21 billion in refined petroleum and US$ 1.04 billion in crude oil.