Al Shuwaikh

Shuwaikh Port
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Native name
ميناء الشويخ
Location
CountryKuwait
LocationShuwaikh
Coordinates29°21′09″N 47°55′31″E / 29.3525°N 47.925278°E / 29.3525; 47.925278
Details
Owned byKuwait Ports Authority [ar][1]
Type of harbourSeaport
Size of harbour1.2m sq. meters
Land area3.2m sq. meters
SizeMedium
No. of berths21
No. of piers21

Shuwaikh Port (Arabic: ميناء الشويخ, transliteration : Minaa' Shuweekh) (Coordinates:29°21′9″N 47°55′31″E) is an urban industrial area within the Al Asimah Governorate (Capital Governorate) in Kuwait City, Kuwait.

A number of Kuwait's ports, educational institutions, hospitals and several offices are hosted in the area. The major cargo ports are in Shuwaikh Port. In the 2011 census, 185 people were recorded as living in the district. The port is bordered by the industrial area, Shuwaikh proper, the educational district and the commercial district.

Shuwaikh Industrial Area

Main article: Shuwaikh Industrial Area

The core industrial area of Al-Shuwaikh (Coordinates: 29°21′N 47°57′E / 29.35°N 47.95°E / 29.35; 47.95) contains the Friday market (Souq al-Juma) at Al-Rai place (Fourth Ring Road). It starts every Thursday in the afternoon and goes until Friday evening and sells clothes, accessories, furniture, carpets, animals, plants, antiques and souvenirs and new and used goods.

The area is known as the industrial section of Kuwait as most manufacturers can be found in that area. Car repairs are mostly located in this part of Kuwait. Also many car dealerships are located in this area. Houses in this area are usually from old times. The electric power station and water desalinization plant in the Port of Shuwaikh supply Kuwait city.

The Kuwait Free Trade Zone is located on Jamal Abdul Nasser road which connects Shuwaikh Port to the centre of Kuwait City.

Several hospitals can be found in Shuwaikh region – such as Al-Sabah Hospital and The Chest Hospital.

Other important places are the Gulf Bank of Kuwait, City Center shopping, KGL Transports, etc. Several major car dealer showrooms can be found in Shuwaikh Industrial Area.

Damaged battleships, Fishing trawlers and dhows from pre-Gulf War eras can be found along the shorelines near Shuwaikh Port.

The Port of Shuwaikh

Ash-Shuwaykh Lighthouse
LocationShuwaikh Port, Kuwait Edit this at Wikidata
Coordinates29°21′30″N 47°55′54″E / 29.35834°N 47.93178°E / 29.35834; 47.93178
Tower
Foundationconcrete base
Constructionreinforced concrete port control building with light atop
Shape3-storey square prism building
Markingswhite building
OperatorKuwait Ports Authority [ar] [2][3]
Light
CharacteristicFl(2) W 15s Edit this on Wikidata

The Port of Shuwaikh (also Ash-Ashuwaykh) is Kuwait's most important port. Located immediately west of the centre of Kuwait City, it lies on the southern shores of Kuwait Bay off the Persian Gulf.

The Kuwait Ports Authority [ar] manages and operates the Port of Shuwaikh. The Port of Shuwaikh serves ocean-going vessels at its deep-water berths, and it has ample modern container facilities. It is the country's most important commercial port and covers 320 hectares of land and 120 hectares of water surface. The Navigation Channel inside Kuwait Bay is dredged to a depth of 8.5 meters (minimum tide level), and it is about eight kilometers long. At any tide, the Port of Shuwaikh can receive vessels to 7.5 meters draft. At high tide, vessels to 9.5 meters draft can enter and leave the Port of Shuwaikh. The Port of Shuwaikh contains 21 berths with a total length of 4055 meters. Fourteen of the berths have a depth of 10 meters, four are 8.5 meters deep, and three have alongside depth of 6.7 meters. Cargo vessels travelling through the Port of Shuwaikh include merchant ships and other vessels that include liners, tramps, fishing trawlers, and small passenger ships as well as cargo-laden container and roll-on/roll-off vessels and barges.[4]

Port Location Shuwaikh
Port Name Port of Shuwaikh
Port Authority Kuwait Ports Authority
Address P.O Box 3874

Safat 13039
Kuwait

Phone +965-4812622
Fax +965-4819714
Web Site www.kpa.gov.kw
Latitude 29° 21' 9" N
Longitude 47° 55' 31" E
UN/LOCODE KWSWK
Port Type, Size Seaport, Medium

Emergency Peaking Power Shuwaikh (EPPS)

In 2008, the Kuwaiti Ministry of Energy (MOE) signed a $270 Million dollar contract to build a 200 MW power plant, making it the largest aeroderivative engine power plant of its kind in the Middle East. The Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) efforts were contracted to HPI, LLC, a full service power and turbine controls company in Houston, S&W Energy Solutions Inc. (SWES), an engineering firm, and Alghanim International (AI), a large Kuwaiti civil and electromechanical contractor. The power plant was built to assure a supply of electrical power to Kuwait City during the peak power usage months.[5]

Kuwait University

The Kuwait University Campus, which is a public university is located close to the port, which is the main campus with several extensions in Mubarak-Al-Kabeer, Khaldiya and Jabriya. The campus at Shuwaikh incorporates the residential quarters for university staff as well.

Entertainment facilities are available with swimming pools, gaming arenas, tennis courts, basketball courts and much more and a cinema played every Thursday evening at the University Faculty member's club.[6]

Transport

Most areas in Kuwait are well connected by public transport buses with two major corporations, City Bus and Kuwait Public Transport Company (KPTC) running services throughout the day, though public transports are used by few people only.

Kuwait International Airport is the primary airport for the country serving a wide variety of local and international destinations. Shuwaikh Port is directly connected with the Kuwait International Airport via the Ghazali Expressway(Road-60).

See also

References

  1. ^ "Shuwaikh Port". kpa.gov.kw. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  2. ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Kuwait". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
  3. ^ NGA List of Lights – Pub.112 Retrieved 8 October 2016
  4. ^ World Port Source – Port of Shuwaikh
  5. ^ "Racing against the clock", Power Engineering International, Kuwait, 6 January 2007, retrieved 4 June 2013
  6. ^ "Kuwait University". www.kuniv.edu. Archived from the original on November 29, 2010.