A total of 991 ships were docked at the Aqaba port in the first seven months of 2021, marking an increase of 9 per cent compared with the same period last year, Secretary General of the Jordan Navigation Syndicate (JNS) Mohammad Dalabih said on Sunday. 

He told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that the Aqaba port has witnessed heightened activity in 2021. He attributed the activity increase to the government’s measures that helped reach normalcy after the pandemic-induced closures. 

Dalabih noted that the Aqaba port in the January-July period of 2020 received 912 vessels. 

The port handled a total cargo of eight million tonnes from the beginning of 2021 until July, marking an increase of 3 per cent compared with the same period last year, which stood at 7.7 million tonnes, he said. 

The JNS secretary general added that exports increased in the same period by 8 per cent and imports witnessed a 1 per cent increase.

Meanwhile, the JNS announced that the Aqaba port witnessed an 8.2 per cent decrease in the number of exported and imported containers in the first seven months of 2021, according to Petra.

During the 2021 January-July period, the port handled some 433,000 containers, compared with 471,000 containers in the same period of 2020, the syndicate said, attributing the decrease to the hike in the cost of international maritime freight.