Jordan container terminal to be expanded

Jordan container terminal to be expanded    The Aqaba Container Terminal in Jordan is planning an expansion project that would see the terminal's quay extended 460 meters and capacity augmented to 2 million TEUs per year.
   The plan calls for $235 million in investment in the terminal, Jordan's only major seaport. The quay extension would double the current wharf length, with terminal operator APM Terminals receiving two super post-Panamax cranes in the first quarter of 2010. Additional units would be added as volume increases, the company said.
   ACT saw container traffic grow 25 percent during the first three quarters of 2009, following a 42 percent increase in 2008, to roughly 600,000 TEUs.
   “This expansion represents not only our commitment to the people and economy of Jordan, but to the entire Red Sea and Levant, as well as interior destinations such as Iraq,” said Klaus Holm Laursen, ACT’s chief executive.
   The expansion will be completed in phases through 2013. Cargo demand is forecast to continue to grow in Jordan, with its access to redevelopment efforts in Iraq and an ongoing transition to containerization of the regional commodities trade in rice and sugar.