Gulf Stevedoring
Gulf stevedoring was founded in 1985 and since then has been awarded many increasingly prestigious projects in ports throughout the Kingdom.. This rapid growth reached a new high point in 1998 when the company was awarded the tender to develop and operate the Northern Container Terminal in Jeddah against substantial competition from other large companies.
Planning of the new project was based on the philosophy that satisfying the customer would be the most important factor in the success of the venture and all decisions were taken with this in mind. Accordingly the construction of the terminal facilities utilized the latest proven technology both in the actual fabric of the terminal and in the equipment that was purchased for it. To properly utilize these assets a top level professional, extremely experienced and multi skilled management team was put in place and a highly trained and motivated workforce was employed to ensure that the customers received the best service possible.
Additionally the decision was taken to purchase and implement Navis, which is considered to be the best Terminal planning system available. This was backed by a multiple redundancy communications and information technology system with state of the art hardware and software overseen by experienced IT personnel.
To support the operation of the terminal a large engineering facility was constructed and equipped to enable it to service and repair all static and mobile equipment and facilities as well as carry out project work designed to improve the service given to the customers. Additionally very substantial stocks of spare parts are held in the warehouse to ensure that equipment can be kept operating with maximum availability.
This project has proved to be an outstanding success and the landmark achievement of a throughput of over one million container units annually was recently celebrated in the presences of His Excellency the Minister of Transportation.
From an initial throughput of 150,000 container units in 2001 with a maximum handling rate of 99 per hour the terminal now handles over 1,000,000 container units annually at rates of up to 174 per hour. An impressive improvement in quality as well as quantity. As a direct result of this the terminal is now able to count some of the most prestigious shipping lines in the world amongst its clients
Gulf Stevedoring also operates projects in Dammam Port, where is has been awarded general cargo and Ro-Ro projects and Jubail Industrial Port, where it operates a maintenance project. In all it now has over 5,000 employees of widely diverse nationalities and skills. Despite its rapid growth the company still retains its core values to provide its customers with the best, most efficient and cost effective service possible. To that end the company constantly reviews its operational methods to refine them to best achieve its objectives.