• Ain Sokhna port received new cranes for Terminal 1, set to launch by year-end.
• The terminal, led by Hutchison Ports, will handle 3.5M TEUs annually.
• It supports Egypt’s Red-to-Med corridor linking ports via electric rail.

Egypt's Ain Sokhna port has received its first shipment of new handling equipment for Terminal 1, including three ship-to-shore (STS) cranes and 12 rubber-tyred gantry (RTG) cranes. This delivery is part of a larger order for a total of six STS cranes and 18 RTGs, marking a crucial step toward the terminal's operational launch, scheduled before the end of the year, according to the Ministry of Transport.

The facility is being developed by Chinese group Hutchison Ports, whose consortium, comprising COSCO Shipping and French company CMA CGM, received a 30-year concession for the terminal in March 2023. Terminal 1 spans 1.6 million square meters with a length of 2,600 meters, boasting a capacity of 3.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year. Authorities state it will handle ships up to 400 meters long.

This new terminal will complement another facility currently under development by UAE-based DP World. These infrastructure projects aim to position Ain Sokhna as Egypt's main container freight hub. The broader objective centers on the Red-to-Med logistics corridor project, a multimodal transport axis connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean via a high-speed electric railway already under construction.

This corridor seeks to interconnect seaports, dry ports, industrial zones, and logistics centers across the nation. It will leverage the complementary nature of rail, road, and river networks.

Henoc Dossa