Recently, the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important energy transportation channel, has been almost suspended, with daily traffic falling to single digits. In sharp contrast, Fujairah Port, located on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates and facing the Gulf of Oman, is accelerating the construction of a new terminal.

Dubai International Ports Group has signed a 50 year port concession agreement with the Fujairah Port Authority to advance the construction of two projects, the Al Ruqarat Container Port and the Diba Fujairah Port. This eastward movement is a direct response from the United Arab Emirates to the crisis of the Strait of Hormuz blockade.

The embryonic form of the East Coast Sea going Corridor is emerging

The designed annual processing capacity of the Alrugailat container port is 2.5 million TEUs, and it can also handle 1.7 million tons of general cargo and 190000 TEUs of vehicles. Diba Fujairah Port focuses on general cargo and has an annual processing capacity of up to 3.6 million tons. The total investment amount of the two ports has not been announced and will be implemented in stages, with an expected construction period of 24 to 30 months.

Fujairah is located on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates, adjacent to the Gulf of Oman, and is the only UAE port completely unrestricted by the Strait of Hormuz. The new port will be interconnected with Jebel Ali Port and the Free Zone through Dubai Universal Ports Group's inland logistics network, improving the efficiency of cargo transportation between the port, logistics center, and terminal market.

Strategic insurance for 2.5 million TEUs per year

The value of this investment can be intuitively understood from the current situation in the Strait of Hormuz. Since July, the daily crude oil transportation through the Strait of Hormuz has decreased from 15 million barrels before the conflict to about 1.5 million barrels, and there have been no major LNG ships leaving the Persian Gulf in the past ten days. The UAE's decision to implement the East Coast port plan at this time is equivalent to buying a strategic insurance of 2.5 million TEUs per year for maritime trade.

The UAE's decision to implement the East Coast port plan at this time is equivalent to buying a strategic insurance of 2.5 million TEUs per year for maritime trade. Keywords: Coastal New Port, Strait of Hormuz

This new port, which handles 2.5 million TEUs annually, will become the most resilient pillar in the UAE shipping system once put into operation - not because it is the largest, but because it is not constrained by the strait.Editor/Cheng Liting