Tug boats arrive at Abu Dhabi’s Khalifa Port
Ceremony held to welcome 32m escort tugboats ahead of port’s official opening in September
A group of stakeholders and VIP gathered at Khalifa Port to mark the delivery of two new 32 metre escort tug boats, ahead of the port’s official opening scheduled for September 1.
The group included DOT, Customs, Irshad, and Abu Dhabi Terminals (ADT), who heard a speech by Captain Mohamed Al-Shamisi, executive vice president of ports operations for ADPC, followed by a speech by Jamal Abki general manager for Grandweld, who built the tugs.
“ADPC could not be prouder that we have yet again reached another milestone,” commented captain Al Shamisi.
“We share this pride with our ADPC stakeholders and customers and we are dedicated to providing them the highest quality of services. We are very excited that our first brand new tugboats for Khalifa Port have finally arrived as they are especially designed to handle the world class infrastructure port project,” he added.
The new Khalifa Port will be the most technologically advanced within the region, with a semi-automated container handling facility and a wide range of productivity enhancing processes.
It will have an initial annual capacity of 2.5 million containers and 12 million tons of cargo. Dredged to receive the largest ships, it can grow in phases in line with Abu Dhabi’s economic growth.
“These tugs were built to the most advanced design and fitted with the highest quality equipments that will ensure reliability and mission readiness for heavy duty operations at the Port,” Grandweld’s Abiki commented.
