The new facility, which has been handling ships on a trial basis since late summer 2013, has been developed by Port Development Co (PDC), a joint venture of the Saudi Binladin Group and Emaar Economic City Co.

Saleh Binladin, a board director of PDC, explained: "This is the first modern port in the Kingdom totally developed and financed by the private sector. Its strategic location will boost Saudi Arabia’s economy and promote its industrial exports.”

Moreover, KAP is well positioned to handle regional transhipment traffic, given its position less than 150 km north of Jeddah, its deep water (up to 18m draught) and proximity to the main east-west shipping channel.

The PDC executive elaborated: "We want to make it the main port on the Red Sea and among the 10 best ports in the world. It will also become a major hub for Asian and European shipping lines.”

KAP is likely to see a strong build up in its cargo volumes during its inaugural year of operations as the planned P3 Alliance of Maersk Line, MSC and CMA CGM has already announced that it will feature as a direct port of call on at least two of its Asia-Mediterranean Europe sailing strings.

Phase one of the port project will have four berths and the capacity to handle approximately 3M TEU a year in place, with 30 berths planned to be developed once the King Abdullah Economic City project has been completed in 2020-25. At this time, the port will have 30 berths and the capacity to handle 20M TEU a year. In all, an expected US$26B –US$30B will have been invested.