Introduction Thursday, 27 March 2008 - MV “Sima Tina” calls KGL PI Container Terminal, RAK to load 134 TEUS for export to Umm Qasr.
The arrival of the “Sima Tina” on 27 March 2008 begins the first container service linking the KGL International for Ports, Warehousing and Transport (KGL PI) Container Terminal at Ras Al Khaimah directly with Umm Qasr, Iraq.
134 TEUs were loaded on the “Sima Tina” – the first export containers shipped directly from Mina Saqr Port to Umm Qasr.Simatech Shipping will provide a regular container service from Ras Al Khaimah to Iraq. This will now give RAK exporters a direct service, with no transshipment via other UAE ports, to the important market of Iraq.
The M.V. “Sima Tina” has a DWT of 20,578 tonnes, a capacity of 1,152 TEUs and 50 Reefers, and speed 15 knots.
Osama Hussain, KGL PI’s deputy managing director at Mina Saqr Container Terminal comments that, “the KGLPI Container Terminal, with state of the art container handling equipment, highly skilled terminal staff and the NAVIS container terminal management system, is able to provide shipping lines with a fast and efficient container handling operation at RAK.”
“This new service to Iraq adds to our existing Gulf services directly linking RAK with Bandar Abbas, Karachi, Mundra and Mumbai – with no delays and no transshipment via other UAE ports.”
KGL Ports International operates and manages the Mina Saqr Container Terminal under a long term concession agreement from the RAK Government. The terminal covers an area of 200,000 sq metres with 4 berths, 800 metres of quay, and a depth of 12.2 metres. The terminal is equipped with three ‘ship to shore” Panamax size gantry cranes and nine RTGs (rubber tyre gantry cranes).Simatech Shipping, established in 1992 as a feeder operator in the UAE and now a market leader in the feeder industry in the Arabian Gulf, is operating regular feeder services to the main ports in the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and the Far East. Operating more than sixteen vessels, Simatech provide feeder services to the majority of container main lines in the region.
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