According to elestrechodigital.com, French shipping and logistics group CMA CGM and Saudi port operator Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) have signed definitive agreements to jointly develop and operate Terminal 4 at the Islamic Port of Jeddah, in partnership with the Saudi Port Authority (Mawani).
Strategic Investment and National Alignment
The project carries an estimated investment of $434 million (1.6 billion Saudi riyals) and is positioned as one of the largest foreign direct investment operations recorded in Saudi Arabia’s maritime sector. The signing occurred in Paris during the Franco-Saudi Investment Roundtable, attended by Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman and French President Emmanuel Macron. All three parties — RSGT, CMA CGM, and Mawani — explicitly anchor the initiative within Saudi Arabia’s National Transportation and Logistics Strategy and the broader objectives of Vision 2030.
Infrastructure Scale and Operational Capacity
Terminal 4 will be integrated into RSGT’s existing concession in Jeddah and deliver an additional annual container handling capacity of up to 2.6 million TEUs. The development includes deep-water docks engineered to accommodate the world’s largest container ships, the installation of ten new ship-to-shore (STS) cranes, and deployment of advanced terminal management systems. Draft deepening aims to enable efficient calls by next-generation vessels — a critical capability as major shipping lines progressively resume transits through the Red Sea following the disruption that began at the end of 2023 due to Houthi militia attacks on merchant traffic.
Leadership Perspectives and Strategic Rationale
Engineer Suliman bin Jaled Al-Mazrou, president of Mawani, described the agreement as a reference point for the kingdom’s attractiveness to maritime investment and global investor confidence in the Saudi port ecosystem. Aamer Abdullah Alireza, chairman of the board of directors of RSGT, called it
“a decisive benchmark for RSGT and for the maritime sector of Saudi Arabia,”
and emphasized its reflection of the kingdom’s ability to attract top-tier international investors. Rodolphe Saadé, president and CEO of CMA CGM, framed the move within the group’s terminal expansion strategy, stating:
“As the global trade landscape evolves and infrastructure needs to be expanded and modernized, terminals become increasingly strategic assets, essential to securing our operations, strengthening major trade corridors, and providing our customers with greater reliability.”
CMA CGM currently holds stakes in 64 port terminals worldwide, underscoring its growing emphasis on terminal assets as levers to secure trade flows.
Source: elestrechodigital.com
Compiled from international media by the SCI.AI editorial team.
