The Port of Aden offers a range of services to shipping lines and other clients. These include:
Marine Services:
The port Control Tower, operated by the Marine Department, provides ships approaching the port with advice on anchoring, pilotage, towage and berthing. The Control Tower is equipped with VHF operating on all marine channels and an Automatic Identification System that can identify vessels fitted with AIS between Aden and Bab el Mandeb. Pilotage and towage services are provided around the clock to and from berths at the various port terminals. Buoy berths for ships, barges, oil platforms and other floating structures wishing to stay in port for short or long periods of time are available, together with short and long-term anchoring areas for yachts.
Ship bunkering is available at two dolphin berths with an alongside depth of 11.9m below chart datum. These are connected to oil storage tanks ashore by pipeline. Fuelling services are operated by the Aden Bunkering Department.
Ship Repair Services:
The Ports Corporation and the National Drydock Company provide ship repair services. The Technical Department of the Corporation is located inside the inner harbor breakwater. It has slipways for pilot and mooring boats, and for tugs, crane barges and other larger vessels. The main slipway can lift 850 tons and has a carriage length of 40m, width 14m.
Hull repairs and work on Azimuth Stern Drives, propellers, stern shafts, rudders, gear boxes, hull grit blasting and painting are carried out on the slipway. It can handle the latest ASD tugs and vessels equipped with Voith Schneider propulsion systems, as well as large fishing trawlers with conventional drives. The work is supported by metal casting, machining, grinding and carpentry shops.
The Technical Department also carries out hydrographic and land surveys within port limits. The National Dockyard Company (NDC) has a 1,500 tonne lifting capacity floating dock with a width inside the walls of 17m and a side slipway with a 1,000 tonne lifting capacity and specialized workshops for hull and machinery repairs.
Wharf Services:
The Wharf Department at Ma’alla operates four main berths, 1-4, with an alongside depth of 11.0m, a RoRo berth depth 7.6m and berths 5 and 6, total length 250m and depth 6.7m. Berths 1 and 2 are used for container operations at present, but will become available for other cargoes when all container operations are moved to the Aden Container Terminal (ACT). Berth 3 is equipped for unloading bulk grain by mechanical unloader to silos. Berths 4 and 5-6 have pipes set in the quay for pumping bulk cement to silos. Stevedoring services are provided by private companies.
Containers and all types of general and bulk cargoes can be handled at Ma’alla, which also provides secure or open cargo storage. Two cement storage and bagging plants operate inside the terminal. The Aden Container Terminal (ACT) has 700m of quay providing two berths for container ships of up to 8,000 TEU and an alongside depth at chart datum of 16.0m. The Aden Gulf Terminal at the western end of the Ma’alla Terminal is privately operated and offers stevedoring services for company cargoes and other vessels. It has two berths for ships of up to 250m in length. The north side berth has a depth alongside of 14m and the south berth 12m below chart datum.
Other Services:
The Technical Department maintains lighthouses, synchronized navigation buoys marking the port approaches channels, and mooring buoys around the harbor. It also does capital dredging to create berths for the Coastguard and Maritime Affairs Authority craft in the past 5 years, and does maintenance dredging at berths and in channels. Port Security services for ships and Government terminals are controlled by the Yemen Coastguard, which has its main marine base and training center in Aden. Private security services operate inside the ACT and AGT.
Private companies are licenced to provide potable water by barge, to remove garbage for the ships and to collect and dispose of liquid and solid oily waste and black water. Approved oily waste disposal and re-cycling facilities are available at Aden. Ship Chandlers provide food and drinks, spare parts, general chandlery and other supplies. Shipping Agents handle all formalities for ship arrivals and departures, crew changes, arrange hospital or medical treatment for crew members. The Port Health Authority grants pratique and is responsible for assessing any health risks on board visiting ships.
