Saudi Ports Authority rises in global maritime index Q3 report

Confirming the progressive trajectory of Saudi Arabia’s maritime sector, the Saudi Ports Authority, commonly known as Mawani, has jumped in the global maritime index for the third quarter of 2023.

As outlined in a recent report from the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the data highlights a leap from 76.16 points in the second quarter to 77.66 points in the third quarter of the year, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The uptick reflects Mawani’s commitment to strengthening the competitive capabilities of Saudi ports on the global stage, bolstering the maritime transport sector, enhancing networks, and refining logistics services.

Commenting on the achievement, Saleh Al-Jasser, Saudi minister of transport and logistics services and chairman of Mawani, emphasized that the Kingdom’s advancement is in alignment with the objectives of the National Strategy for Transport and Logistics Services.

He also pointed to Mawani’s success in improving maritime shipping, with the introduction of 24 new services in 2023 alone.

This move fortifies trade and export activities and strengthens the Kingdom’s connection to global markets through enhanced operational capabilities, maritime communication routes development, and an uplifted competitive stature.

The maritime network connectivity index, which gauges the interconnection levels of global ports with shipping line networks quarterly, incorporates several sub-indicators, including the scheduled ship visits to the country per week and the number of regular service routes offered by vessel lines to and from the national ports.

Earlier this year, Saudi Arabia celebrated climbing 17 global ranks in the Logistics Performance Index issued by the World Bank.

On a separate ranking, the Kingdom’s ports rose to the 16th position in the UN Conference on Trade and Development’s Liner Shipping Connectivity Index in June.

Moreover, Saudi Arabia achieved significant progress in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index, jumping 17 places to reach the 38th position in 2023.

This marks a notable improvement compared to its rankings of 55 in 2018 and 52 in 2016.

The Kingdom currently has 97 shipping links that connect to 348 international ports.