The Yemen Ports Authority operates and manages the Port of Aden. The Port of Aden is a cargo-handling, distribution, and transshipment center dedicated to providing high-quality services to users of the port and supporting the economic development of the city and the country.

The Port of Aden strives to meet its customers' needs by providing efficient and reliable services, planning port expansions to keep pace with advances in marine and port technology, offering competitive prices while securing a reasonable return on investments, and applying the latest port and information technologies to secure a competitive advantage. The Port of Aden is a gateway for international trade for the country of Yemen.

In an important strategic location midway between Europe and the Far East, the Port of Aden occupies a central position on the world's major trading route through the Suez Canal. With one of the world's largest natural harbors, the Port of Aden contains the Inner Harbor, the oil harbor, and the anchorage and approach channels of the Outer Harbor.

The approach to the Port of Aden is through a dredged channel that is 220 meters wide and 16 meters deep. The 2.3 nautical mile channel to the Little Aden oil harbor is 220 meters wide and 14.7 meters deep. Vessels approach the Port of Aden's inner harbor through the same dredged channel that divides at Buoy No. 3. The 2.6 nautical mile inner harbor channel is 185 meters and 15 meters deep. Pilotage is required for all vessels exceeding 200 GRT. Anchorage is available for ships in the outer harbor with depths from six to 20 meters, but they are not presently marked on the chart.

The Port of Aden's inner harbor contains nine berths and six buoy and three bunkering berths with alongside depths from 5.5 to 11.9 meters. The Port of Aden Container Terminal (ACT) on the inner harbor's north side contains 700 meters of quay with alongside depth of 16 meters. The turning basin near the ACT is 700 meters in diameter and 15 meters deep.

A short 11-meter deep channel at the eastern end of the inner harbor leads vessels to the Ma'alla Terminal with four berths for general, bulk, and containerized cargoes. The Ma'alla facility also contains 50-thousand ton capacity bulk silos and a plant for milling flour. The berths are a total of 750 meters deep alongside depth of 11 meters, and the facilities include a 150-meter long, 20-meter wide roll-on/roll-off berth with a depth of 7.6 meters.

In 2008, the Port of Aden welcomed 2183 vessels carrying 15.2 million tons of cargo, including 2.6 million tons of dry cargo and 12.4 million tons of liquid cargo, including containerized cargoes. The major imported cargoes included cement, wheat, steel, general cargo, sugar, timber, and rice. Major exports included fish, salt, and cotton. The Port of Aden Container Terminal welcomed 438 vessels carrying 432.5 TEUs, and Aden Port welcomed 552 vessels carrying 492.2 thousand TEUs.

The Port of Aden Container Terminal has two berths of 350 meters each and alongside depth of 16 meters that are equipped with four 40-ton capacity super post-Panamax gantry cranes. The container yard covers 35 hectares and contains 2500 ground slots with capacity to store 10 thousand TEUs and 252 reefer outlets. At the rear of the container yard are a 4.7 thousand square meter Container Freight Station, a multi-county consolidation shed, offices, an independent power station, a desalination plant, workshops, and a waste treatment plant.

The 250-meter long, 6.7 meter deep Home Trade Quay is located at the eastern end of the ACT in the Port of Aden. A fishing harbor and ship repair yard are also located in the Port of Aden's inner harbor.

The Port of Aden's Ma'alla Multi-purpose and Container Terminal. The inner harbor buoy berths can accommodate vessels to 50 thousand DWT up to 275 meters long with maximum draft of 11.3 meters. The Ma'alla Terminal alongside berths can accommodate ships to 40 thousand DWT up to 190 meters long with maximum draft of 10.7 meters. The Ma'alla Terminal also contains two conventional/bulk berths that are each 187.5 meters long with alongside depth of 11 meters. Inside the boundary wall at the eastern end of the Port of Aden's Ma'alla Wharf is the Aden Free Port where customs inspections are conducted.

Smaller vessels use the Port of Aden's Home Trade Quay. Behind the Home Trade Quay shed 23 is a bulk cement receiving and bagging operation serving bulk vessels at Berth 4. To the east of the Home Trade Quay are 800 meters of quays with alongside depths from 1.8 to 2.7 meters for lighter and dhow vessels.

The Port of Aden's Ma'alla Terminal offers two container berths, each 187.5 meters long with alongside depth of 11 meters. The berths are equipped with two Panamax-capable 40-ton gantry cranes. The container yard at the Port of Aden covers seven hectares and has storage capacity for 852 TEUs and 32 reefer power outlets. The container yard also contains a 10.2 thousand square meter cargo shed that is the Container Freight Station.

The Port of Aden Refinery Company (ARC) imports and exports petroleum products through the Little Aden Oil Harbor. The oil harbor contains six berths. Berths No. 1 through 3 handle refined products. Berth No. 1, with alongside depth of 13.5 meters, at the "T" jetty accommodates tankers to 85 thousand DWT up to 260 meters long. Berth No. 2 at the "T" jetty, with alongside depth of 11.5 meters, serves tankers up to 65 thousand DWT up to 180 meters long. With alongside depth of 11.5 meters, Pier Berth No. 3 handles tankers to 65 thousand DWT up to 235 meters long.

Berth No. 4 in the Port of Aden's oil harbor has alongside depth of 15.85 meters and can accommodate tankers up to 110 thousand DWT and 286 meters in length. Berth No. 4 is dedicated to discharging crude oil and loading refined products.

With alongside depth of 11 meters, Port of Aden Berths 5 and 6 in the oil harbor handle dry cargoes, heavy lifts, and import and export cargoes traveling to and from the refinery. The liquefied natural gas quay is 120 meters long. The dry cargo quay is 220 meters long and can accommodate ships to 150 meters long. Tankers up to 25 thousand DWT and dry cargo vessels up to 15 thousand GRT use Berths 5 and 6. The Little Aden Oil Harbor also contains a 20-meter wide roll-on/roll-off ramp at the northeast corner of the dry cargo berth.

The Port of Aden includes a fishing port within the commercial area that covers 8.5 hectares and a wharf that is 550 meters long alongside depths from 5.5 to 7.2 meters. The fishing port includes a 2000-ton capacity cold storage complex, a general fish handling/processing area, a fish gear manufacturing and repair area, and a 100-ton per day ice maker.

The Port of Aden's ship repair complex contains a 1500-ton capacity gloating dock and comprehensive engineering, repair, and general service workshops. The complex also houses a factory producing small fiberglass boats.

The Port of Aden contains passenger/cruise berths at two bunkering dolphins on the south side of the harbor. Passenger launches are available to transfer passengers to/from the dolphins and larger vessels to the tourist pier.

The Port of Aden is in the process of upgrading its facilities and widening and deepening the approach channel to the inner harbor in order to serve the ever-larger container ships that call at port. The Port of Aden will widen the approach channel to 250 meters in width and 17 meters in depth. The existing turning basin will also be deepened. Dredged materials will be used for reclamation work in the inner harbor. With little to no siltation in the Port of Aden channels, the channels do not require maintenance dredging.

Review and History    Port Commerce    Cruising and Travel    Satellite Map    Contact Information