Saudi Arabia launches 30th shipping service of 2025, linking Jeddah to Port Sudan
Updated 22 September 2025
Mohammed Al-Kinani
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s ports authority has launched its 30th new shipping service of the year, adding a direct route between Jeddah Islamic Port and Port Sudan.
The “JSS” service, operated by Marsa Ocean Shipping, offers capacity for 1,118 containers and is expected to strengthen trade flows across the Red Sea and support the Kingdom’s exports, said the Saudi Ports Authority, also known as Mawani.
The move is part of Mawani’s drive to improve global rankings, enhance efficiency at Jeddah port, and strengthen Saudi Arabia’s role as a trade link between Asia, Africa, and Europe.
The initiative also supports Vision 2030 goals to raise the logistics sector’s contribution to gross domestic product from 6 percent to 10 percent by 2030.
In a post on its official X handle, the authority said: “As part of Mawani’s ongoing efforts to enhance the competitiveness of the Kingdom’s ports, the ‘JSS’ shipping service, operated by ‘Marsa Ocean Shipping,’ has been added to Jeddah Islamic Port, representing the 30th new service introduced since the start of 2025.”
This comes on the back of several new connections, with Goodrich launching the RSX1 service in August, linking Jeddah to Port Sudan, Djibouti, and Jebel Ali in the UAE with 720 TEUs capacity, while Blue Ocean Shipping introduced the BOS service to Qingdao, Ningbo, and Nansha in China, with 2,300 TEUs capacity.
In July, CMA CGM began operating the LRX service, connecting Jeddah to Latakia in Syria, as well as Iskenderun and Mersin in Turkiye, and Beirut in Lebanon, with a capacity of 2,826 TEUs. That marked Saudi Arabia’s first direct shipping link with Syria.
Other recent additions include the AR2 Asia Redsea service by Wan Hai Lines, linking Jeddah to major ports in China, Turkiye, Egypt, and Jordan with a capacity of 3,700 TEUs, and the IM2 service by Emirates Line and Wan Hai, connecting to Mundra in India, Alexandria in Egypt, and Mersin in Turkiye.
In March, Mawani launched the “Chinook Clanga” service, operated by Mediterranean Shipping Co., at King Abdulaziz Port in Dammam and Jubail Commercial Port, connecting Saudi Arabia’s eastern ports to 16 regional and international destinations.
The service strengthens links across the Arabian Gulf to key ports, including Khalifa Bin Salman in Bahrain, Hamad in Qatar, Nhava Sheva in India, Colombo in Sri Lanka, and Singapore.
Lucid’s move into Alkhobar marks a new phase in Saudi Arabia’s electric transition
Updated 5 sec ago
Waad Hussain
ALKHOBAR: Lucid opened its first showroom in Alkhobar on Dec. 5, completing its presence across Saudi Arabia’s three largest regions and underscoring the rapid progress of the Kingdom’s electric-mobility push under Vision 2030.
The new Eastern Province location targets one of the nation’s highest-spending markets and reflects the deepening US-Saudi partnership behind Lucid in manufacturing, research and development, and talent.
For the EV maker, the move reflects pure market demand, according to interim CEO Marc Winterhoff.
“We didn’t have any coverage of the eastern region. It’s the 3rd largest market in KSA, and therefore it’s important for us to be here as well, closer to our customers,” he said.
Saudi Arabia has become one of Lucid’s most critical markets globally, not only as a buyer, but as a manufacturing base and a long-term strategic partner.
Winterhoff said the company is “super important in all of those categories,” highlighting how the Public Investment Fund’s backing enabled Lucid to grow jobs in the US while establishing its first international facility in the Kingdom.
“It’s widely known that we are majority funded by PIF, meaning the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which enabled us to build actually a lot of jobs in the US. Over 90 percent of our jobs … are in the US,” he said.
Lucid interim CEO Marc Winterhoff. Khalil Alazwari
At the same time, Lucid is expanding its assembly plant in King Abdullah Economic City and preparing to hire “thousands of people” as it ramps up production by the end of next year.
Alignment with Vision 2030, particularly the shift toward sustainability and the creation of entirely new industries, is becoming a defining pillar of Lucid’s strategy in the Kingdom. “Our vision is very much aligned with Vision 2030,” Winterhoff said.
He pointed to the emergence of a Saudi automotive cluster for the first time, with Lucid among the first manufacturers and others now entering the market. “There was no automotive industry before … and yeah, that wouldn’t be possible without the support.”
Regionally, Lucid Middle East President Faisal Sultan said the Gulf is entering a new phase of EV adoption driven by consumer readiness and government action.
“The whole country is going through a transformation right now. There is a renewed focus on sustainability and diversification to non-oil GDP,” he said.
While global supply chain issues briefly slowed EV momentum, demand in Saudi Arabia is now growing faster than in several other GCC countries.
Sultan said the Alkhobar showroom will play a direct role in accelerating adoption by exposing more customers to the vehicles.
“Once the customer is inside the car and sees a beautiful car that has amazing performance attributes, then the conversion is a sure deal,” he said.
Market behavior also shaped the decision to expand east. Many Eastern Province customers had been traveling to Riyadh to buy vehicles, a barrier Lucid sought to address. “It is a little bit of an inconvenience … so we really needed to be here,” Sultan explained.
The location’s economic weight also played a role. “There’s a lot of buying power here, and Lucid vehicles are a highly technological luxury vehicle. So it is the right place for Lucid to be.”
On charging, Lucid is working on a two-track approach: building infrastructure and educating customers. The company is pushing back against common assumptions around range anxiety by highlighting its vehicles’ capabilities.
“We are the longest-range vehicle in the world — 835 (km) to 838 km on a single charge,” Sultan said. He added that many drivers can travel from Alkhobar to Riyadh and might even go back on one charge.
The Lucid Air showcased inside the new Alkhobar studio. Khalil Alazwari
Lucid now provides a free home charger and free installation with every purchase, ensuring most customers rarely run low on battery in daily use.
The company is also expanding public charging through partnerships with hotels and offices. “We have about 50 of them across the country, and anybody can use it,” he said.
The localization push, a major pillar of Vision 2030, is another area where Lucid is scaling quickly. “We are 70-plus percent Saudized. That is an amazing feat because we are a technological company,” Sultan said.
The firm is also investing in a new R&D center in Riyadh, training Saudi engineers in the US through Human Resources Development Fund’s programs, and building a talent pipeline with institutions including KAUST, King Abdullah Economic City’s training academy NAVA, and technical universities.
Sultan said this effort is essential as the plant transitions next year from assembly to a complete build-unit factory with a planned annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles.
“You’re gonna need a large workforce,” he said. “This is all in preparation to localize the workforce and having the right skills available.”
With the Eastern Province now covered, Lucid’s footprint matches the Kingdom’s three economic engines: Riyadh, Jeddah, and Alkhobar, positioning the company at the center of Saudi Arabia’s EV transition.
And as both executives made clear, the Kingdom is not just a sales market for Lucid, but a core part of its global future.
