RIYADH: Ports in Saudi Arabia witnessed a rise of 5.31 percent in container handling in October compared to the year-ago period, according to a statement. The Saudi Ports Authority, or Mawani, reported on Nov. 14 that ports in the Kingdom handled 741,905 standard containers last month and 704,486 in October 2022. The number of transshipment containers handled by the ports in the Kingdom stood at 290,110 last month, up 2.12 percent compared to October 2022. Last month, the ports handled 627,637 tons of general cargo, 4,575,549 tons of solid bulk and 11,415,187 tons of liquid. Mawani added that the rise in cargo handling in Saudi ports signifies the Kingdom’s growth as a global logistics hub, aligned with the goals outlined in the National Transport and Logistics Strategy. The statement added that Saudi Arabia’s ports received 59,810 passengers in October, up 35.11 percent from the same month in 2022. On the other hand, the Kingdom’s ports received 109,646 cars in October, also marking an annual rise of 17.13 percent. The ports authority also made a significant leap in the global maritime index in the third quarter. According to a report from the UN Conference on Trade and Development, Mawani climbed from 76.16 points in the second quarter to 77.66 points in the third quarter, affirming the Kingdom’s progress in the maritime sector. Commenting on the achievement, Saleh Al-Jasser, Saudi minister of transport and logistics services and chairman of Mawani, said that the Kingdom’s advancement in the index aligns with the National Strategy for Transport and Logistics Services objectives. The maritime network connectivity index, which gauges the interconnection levels of global ports with shipping line networks quarterly, incorporates several sub-indicators, including the scheduled ship visits to the country per week and the number of regular service routes offered by vessel lines to and from the national ports. Moreover, earlier this year, Saudi Arabia climbed 17 global ranks in the Logistics Performance Index issued by the World Bank to reach the 38th spot globally.