Jebel Ali is the largest port in the Middle East. DP World's flagship handled 15.5 million TEU in 2024, its highest volume since 2015, across four terminals with a designed capacity of 19.4 million TEU — close to a fifth of DP World's global throughput. Up the coast, AD Ports Group's Khalifa Port carries roughly 10 million TEU of container capacity after the CMA Terminals facility opened in December 2024. On the other side of the peninsula, the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani) network — Jeddah Islamic Port, King Abdulaziz Port at Dammam, King Abdullah Port and the industrial ports at Yanbu, Jubail and Ras Al-Khair — moved 8.32 million TEU in 2025, up 10.6 per cent on the year.
The Gulf is also a tanker and shipbuilding region, not only a box region. Around 20 million barrels of crude and products a day pass through the Strait of Hormuz — about a quarter of all seaborne oil trade — so tanker calls dominate large parts of the coast. And the region repairs and builds its own tonnage: Drydocks World in Dubai is the largest ship-repair facility in the Middle East, with graving docks up to 521 metres; ASRY in Bahrain runs a 500,000-dwt dock and around 4,000 metres of repair berths; and the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services at Ras Al-Khair, home to the International Maritime Industries joint venture, is the region's largest newbuild and repair yard by capacity.
The Gulf maritime map: ports, tanker trades and repair yards
The Gulf combines three roles that each shape where shore power will matter: a container transhipment hub at Jebel Ali and Khalifa, a crude and product export coast feeding the Hormuz trade, and a growing ship-repair and newbuild base. For an owner, that mix means the region touches almost every ship type — boxships on the Asia–Europe rotation calling Jebel Ali, VLCCs and product tankers loading in Saudi and UAE terminals, and vessels arriving for docking at the local yards.
- Jebel Ali (DP World): the Middle East's largest port, 15.5 million TEU in 2024, 19.4 million TEU capacity
- Khalifa Port (AD Ports Group): around 10 million TEU capacity after the CMA Terminals opening in December 2024
- Saudi Mawani ports: Jeddah, Dammam, King Abdullah Port and the industrial ports, 8.32 million TEU in 2025
- Hormuz tanker trade: about 20 million barrels a day, roughly a quarter of seaborne oil
- Repair and newbuild: Drydocks World Dubai, ASRY Bahrain, and the IMI yard at Ras Al-Khair
Where does shore power fit Gulf decarbonisation?
Shore power is emerging in the Gulf, not yet mandated across it. The UAE has committed to net zero by 2050 and Saudi Arabia to net zero by 2060, and port electrification is one of the levers those strategies point to. But there is no region-wide at-berth shore-power obligation of the kind the EU has legislated, and the honest position is that quay-side onshore power supply here is at an earlier, project-by-project stage. That is worth stating plainly rather than dressing up: an owner trading the Gulf is planning against direction of travel and individual terminal decisions, not a single dated mandate.
Which Gulf ports have shore power today?
The clearest move so far is at Khalifa Port. The CMA Terminals facility that AD Ports Group and CMA CGM inaugurated in December 2024 provides shore power for vessels, alongside solar generation and what the operator describes as the region's first net-zero-carbon administration building. AD Ports has also deployed the Middle East's first fully electric harbour tug at Khalifa and is installing a 1.5 MW shore facility to charge it, and cold-ironing points exist at Khalifa, Zayed and Musaffah for smaller craft and long-stay vessels. Beyond these, coverage for large seagoing ships is thin, and public detail on a wider quay-side programme is limited — so where a specific berth will be equipped, and when, is a question to put to the terminal directly rather than assume.
Why hot-climate berths need more power, not less
At-berth electrical demand in the Gulf runs higher than the same vessel would draw in a temperate port, because the climate drives the load. Accommodation and machinery-space HVAC works harder against ambient temperatures that sit well above the design point for much of the year, and on a container ship the reefer plant — already the dominant alongside load — pulls more to hold cargo temperature in the heat. A shore connection sized to a European load profile can be undersized here. It cuts the other way on the equipment, too: transformers, converters and switchgear are rated for temperature, and high ambient conditions de-rate them, so the shore-side and ship-side kit must be specified for the environment it will actually sit in.
- Reefer demand rises with ambient temperature — the peak, not the average, sizes the transformer and cable
- Accommodation and machinery HVAC add a larger continuous load than in a temperate port
- Electrical equipment de-rates in heat, so switchgear and converters need headroom built in
- Ventilation and cooling for on-board converters and transformer spaces has to be designed for the climate
What shore power means for tankers on the Hormuz trade
Tankers are the Gulf's signature traffic, and they change the shore-power engineering. A crude or product tanker loading in a Saudi or UAE terminal still runs a heavy alongside load — cargo pumps, tank heating, inert gas — that is worth taking from the quay, but the connection sits close to zones classified for flammable atmospheres. That brings hazardous-area engineering to the IEC 60079 series into the scope: equipment rated for the zone it occupies, a cable route kept clear of hazardous zones where possible, and an earthing and bonding scheme proven safe in that environment. On a region where tanker calls dominate, this is not an edge case — it is the design driver for a large share of the fleet.
Engineering to IEC/IEEE/ISO 80005-1 for Gulf rotations
For an owner whose vessels rotate between the Gulf and elsewhere, the vessel-side connection is built to one international standard so it interfaces wherever the infrastructure exists. That standard is IEC/IEEE/ISO 80005-1 for high-voltage shore connection, typically 6.6 kV or 11 kV, with IEC 62613 governing the plugs and couplers. Gulf grids run at 50 Hz, as European ones do, while much of the fleet runs at 60 Hz — so the frequency-converter question that shapes an EU retrofit applies here as well, and where the converter sits is decided against the vessel's real rotation. Building to the standard once means a ship that docks at Drydocks World or the IMI yard for the work can plug in at a Gulf berth today and an EU core port when its rule bites.
Frequently asked questions
- Is shore power mandatory at Jebel Ali or Khalifa Port?
- No. Unlike the EU, the Gulf has no region-wide at-berth shore-power mandate. The UAE and Saudi Arabia have national net-zero targets — 2050 and 2060 respectively — and individual terminals are installing shore power, notably the CMA Terminals facility at Khalifa Port opened in December 2024. But for large seagoing vessels the coverage is project-by-project, so owners plan against terminal decisions rather than a single deadline.
- What frequency is Gulf shore power, 50 Hz or 60 Hz?
- Gulf electricity grids run at 50 Hz, the same as Europe. A large part of the world fleet runs at 60 Hz, so where a terminal has not installed frequency conversion, a 60 Hz vessel needs a converter on board to take the supply. This is the same converter decision that shapes a European retrofit, and it is settled against the ports the vessel actually calls.
- Why does at-berth power sizing change in the Gulf climate?
- High ambient temperatures raise the alongside electrical load and lower the rating of the equipment. HVAC and, on container ships, reefer plant draw more power to hold conditions against the heat, so a connection sized for a temperate port can be undersized. At the same time transformers and converters de-rate in high temperatures, so both ship-side and shore-side equipment need headroom designed in from the start.
- Which Gulf ports already offer some form of shore power?
- Khalifa Port's CMA Terminals facility provides shore power for vessels and opened in December 2024. AD Ports Group has installed cold-ironing points at Khalifa, Zayed and Musaffah for smaller craft and is adding a 1.5 MW facility to charge an electric tug. Wider coverage for large seagoing ships remains limited, so confirm a specific berth's capability with the terminal rather than assuming it.