Jeddah Seaport
Jeddah Islamic Port is located in the middle of an international shipping route between east and west. It is the largest and busiest port in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
The port lies on the Red Sea coast at 21° 28' north and 39° 10' east. It is the Saudi's principal port serving the holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The port serves the commercial centers through which 59% of the Saudi's imports by sea are being handled. The importance of Jeddah Port increased and reached its maximum limit when Saudi Arabia was developing into a modern country.
The Port was established in September 1976 whereupon it started developing its facilities. The port has expanded from a modest 10 operational berths in 1976 to the 58 berths of international standard in service today.
Jeddah Islamic Port occupies an area of 10.5 square kilometers and its deep water provide an overall berthing length of 11.2 kilometers with a maximum draft of 16 metres.
The port can accommodate the latest generation of large container vessels with a capacity of 6500 TEUs.
In "Red Sea Journey," published in the book Caravan of Dreams, Idries Shah wrote, "Gleaming whitely, coral-built beyond those treacherous reefs through which ships cannot pass to her quayside, Jeddah beckoned... we got into small boats and were ferried to the jetties..."
Along the coastline of the Red Sea runs a stretch of coral reefs. Jeddah is one of the few places where a gap in the reefs allows large vessels to approach the coastline directly. Nevertheless, the reefs have proven fatal to many ships through the ages.
Two Italian Destroyers are reported to have run aground near Jedda in 1941.
From the sixties it is reported that two ships had run aground to the north and to the south of the entrance to the port: thus marking the safe shipping lane between them.
As of 2007 at least three large ships have been reported lying south of Jeddah. At 20°52′02.87″N 39°21′39.77″E / 20.8674639°N 39.3610472°E lies the "Saudi Golden Arrow", ex-Norwegian Ferry "M/S Europafergen" reported laid up at Shoieba.
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