EXCEPTIONALLY rapid growth is being achieved at the Sharjah Container Terminal.

Last year it handled a record 228,000 teu, a 24% rise over 2004. However, business has since accelerated still further and in the first nine months of the current year throughput shot up by a further 30%.

As a result, SCT will probably move over 300,000 teu for this first time this year. Moreover, this year SCT received its 500th vessel call a month earlier than in 2005, and terminal operator Gulftainer believes the facility will achieve another landmark by handling more than 1,000 vessels in a calendar year.

Traditionally, SCT has been used as a feeder port, with relatively small containerships carrying local Sharjah cargoes to and from the main regional hubs. Over the past two years, though, more direct calls by large mother ships have been made at SCT.

One of the biggest customers at the terminal is APL, which now has two direct services calling into SCT. One is the Gulf West Asia Express service, which utilises vessels of around 4,700 teu size, and the other is the China Middle East Express operation.

Other leading lines, including Maersk and MSC, are also now making much greater use of SCT to serve the UAE market, and are putting larger ships into the port.

Gulftainer general manager Peter Richards said: 'There is a growing realisation by UAE businesses that the changing logistics scene in the country means they have to pick and chose their container gateways carefully to get the best mix of convenience and price.

'We expect that more sizeable ships, and certainly greater volumes will be a regular feature in Sharjah in the months to come.'

One of the factors that has been working in SCT's favour is the growing road congestion in the UAE, and especially on the main roads linking Sharjah, Dubai and Jebel Ali port. This, Gulftainer suggests, has encouraged carriers to spread their UAE gateways, and move boxes via SCT to get around the road delays involved when transporting containers from Jebel Ali or Port Rashid.

The pace of container traffic growth at SCT over the past two years has been such that a significant injection of investment by Gulftainer and the Sharjah Port Authority is needed to keep up with demand.

The first of two new Gottwald mobile cranes arrived at SCT in November, while a tender has been issued for a new ship-to shore container gantry crane.

The possible physical expansion of the terminal is also being evaluated at the present time by the port authority.