Damaged cars arriving at Saudi ports disrupt smooth handling operations, Dr. Khalid Bin Ahmad Bubshait, President of the Ports Authority, has said. The Customs Department's decision banning the import of these vehicles will reflect positively on the quality of the arrival of used cars, he was quoted by Saudi Press Agency (SPA) as saying. Bubshait said the ports are now witnessing the increased movement of goods since the Kingdom's seaports are now more prepared to receive all types of ships. To receive modern ships, a port has to be equipped with docks of specified standards and a large storage capacity with specialist equipment to handle every kind of shipment. He said the recent events at Jeddah Islamic Port were largely due to large shipments of iron, wood, cement, foodstuff and electronics arriving in non-specialist ships. He said recently 755,280 tons of iron was received at the port. Out of this 140,720 tons arrived in September alone. He said this period also saw the arrival of 49,383 cars, and 261,924 tons of barely. As such, the Kingdom's imports arriving through Jeddah's seaport rose by 18 percent compared to the same period last year. He said that it was normal for ships to wait in all seaports in the world. Some times, he said, the waiting period was prolonged due to docks being occupied by other ships, or some ships arriving earlier or later than expected. He said marine and operational procedures in Saudi ports are carried out round the clock all through the week. Bubshait said 74,712 Umrah pilgrims left through the port this year. __
