Aqaba (Jordan)

Aqaba is Jordan's only coastal city, seaport and most populous and largest city. It is located in southernmost Jordan and has population around 190,000. The ancient city was called Ayla.

The port's strategic location at the northeastern tip of Red Sea (between Africa and Asia) and its proximity to copper mines and strategic location made Aqaba (Ayla) port a regional hub for copper production and trade. Following the Islamic conquest (around 600 AD), Ayla became known as Aqaba. The location next to Petra and Wadi Rum placed Aqaba in the golden triangle of tourism of Jordan. The city is administered by Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, which turned it into a duty-free, low-tax city and a major Red Sea tourism hub.

Port Aqaba

Port Aqaba is Jordan's only seaport. It is owned and operated by Aqaba Port Corporation.

Following a rapid growth, in the 1980s port Aqaba was ranked Red Sea's third-largest cargo port. In 2003, vessel congestion became a major obstacle for Jordan's growing shipping trade, costing the country's economy an estimated USD 120 million per year. Then was formed ADC (Aqaba Development Corporation) and the Aqaba Container Terminal's management was put out to a 2-year tender.

Aqaba Container Terminal (ACT) is the country's only containership port, currently ranked as Red Sea's second-busiest. The terminal is a joint venture between Aqaba Development Corporation and APM Terminals. The Holland-based company APM Terminals (international container terminal operator) won the tender and started operations in 2004. By 2005, the terminal was fully computerised, which optimized berthing and logistics. In 2006, APM Terminals signed with ADC a 25-year terminal concession deal (till 2031) for operating, managing and marketing the Aqaba terminal.

To increase its water depth, n 2006 the port was relocated from the city centre to the south.

The terminal's expansion was started in 2009 and completed in October 2013. By this project were added additional 460 m (1510 ft) of quay - to a total quay length of 1 km (0,6 ml), The facility's annual container shipping capacity was increased to 1,3 million TEUs (containers). The expansion project also included purchasing 2 new ship-to-shore cranes (reach 22 container rows) and 4 RTG cranes (rubber tyred gantry cranes).

Since 2006, ATM Terminals reached in Port Aqaba an employee nationalization rate 99,5% and reinvested in Jordan around 97% of all the generated revenues.