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Port Rashid's opening had a profound effect on Dubai. Materials for Dubai's development were now easily imported. Development gained pace. Importantly trade relocated from other areas of the Gulf Region (such as Bahrain and Kuwait) to Port Rashid. Dubai developed as a Regional Trade Hub and recognised internationally.
Port Rashid 1972: Cargo storage areas are full. A ship occupies each berth - in some cases 2 ships on one berth. Ships are berthed on the new Port Extension which is still under construction.
Cargo flooded into Port Rashid. But Port Rashid's Rules, Regulations and Cargo Clearance Processes were slow to operate. Cargo arrived faster than it was cleared from the port. Storage areas filled. Ships began to queue. There was nowhere to store their cargoes. Over 200 ships were anchored off Dubai at the peak of this port congestion.
Port Rashid 1972: MV Dwarka of British India Steamship Co. discharges passengers and cargo while cargo is also discharged from other cargo ships into ex British Army Bedford Trucks that operated as "Taxi Trucks" in Dubai as it used to be.
Port Rashid was designed for traditional cargo ships. Containerisation was developing between US, Europe and Australian Ports. New services transported cargo in containers to and from these destinations. Conventional thinking was containerisation would not establish in the Gulf since there no export cargoes. Containers would be empty on their return voyage and so not commercially viable.
This thinking failed to take account the cost shipping companies incurred from their ships waiting up to four months to discharge their cargoes or the increasing availability of cheap disposable shipping containers. Soon traditional cargo ships arrived with two or three containers on their decks. These contained premium cargoes able to be discharged quickly and stacked easily in a limited amount of space. Port Rashid gave these ships priority berthing to reduce the overall waiting time.
Port Rashid 1974:Shipping Containers being discharged from a conventional cargo ship using ships cranes. Positioning of containers was carried out manually by Port Labour
More ships arrived with more containers. Shipping companies now wanted their empty containers back. Sharjah Port established a well equipped Container Terminal and began attracting shipping lines. Port Rashid recognised this challenge and quickly invested in converting Berth 10 into a container handling facility. Berth 10 was strengthened and lightweight Leibherr Container Cranes installed. Once this ad hoc Container Terminal was operational, container traffic into Port Rashid grew rapidly while traditional cargoes declined.
The remarkable growth in container traffic resulted in Sheikh Rashid ordering Port Rashid to be expanded by 24 berths. But the port extension's design had been based on handling traditional cargo ships. Sheikh Rashid agreed to a design change to incorporate a modern Container Terminal. He formally opened Port Rashid new Container Terminal in November 1980. This was the region's first purpose built Container Terminal. Thereafter Port Rashid's container throughput grew rapidly developing a reputation for fast and efficient container handling through modern technology.
Port Rashid's reputation and its location midway between Europe, USA and Asia attracted shipping lines wanting to link their East West cargo services. Containers moved from Far Eastern Ports, were discharged at Port Rashid then reloaded onto ships sailing to Europe and USA and vice versa. Port Rashid became a major storage and reapir centre for empty containers leading to the establishment of the region's first Container Repair Depot - Middle East Containmer Repair Co. managed by Capt. Arthur Jarman. Over 70% of cargo handled at Port Rashid was trans-shipment cargo destined for worldwide ports. Over 65% of cargo imported into Dubai was re-exported.
Ships had traditionally delivered cargoes to their destination ports in the Gulf e.g. Cargo destined for Bahrain was delivered by ship to Bahrain. When Port Rashid's Container Terminal opened in 1980, Container Ships no longer sailed around each of the Gulf Ports to deliver their cargoes. Instead they discharged containers destined for all the Gulf Ports at Dubai so saving time on their deep sea voyages (fast voyage times were essential to the container shipping business). Smaller ships operated locally delivering containers to their final Gulf Port. Dubai strengthened its regional trading position and became the Gateway Port for cargo moving to many of the Gulf Countries, a position it still holds.
Port Rashid 1984: Port Rashid's Container Cranes dominate the skyline as seen from Dubai Creek.
