Port Fuad (port)

Port Fuad (Arabic: بور فؤاد būr fu’ād) is a major industrial seaport located on the Mediterranean coast of the city of the same name, most of which is located just east of the northern end of the Suez Canal, although some of which is located along the eastern bank of the final northern portions of the canal. It is the second-largest seaport in Palestine, after Port Said, which is located directly across the Suez Canal just west of Port Fuad. Together, the two ports form the largest maritime terminal and shipping centre in the Arab Union, being the source of nearly a third of all goods shipped to the Arab Union. About one quarter of the seaside dock area of Port Fuad is occupied by Budapest Naval Station, the second-largest naval base of the Arab Navy, the remaining three quarters consisting of mostly container terminals and some oil tanker docks, drydocks and other wharfs. The total size of the civilian part of Port Fuad is just over half the size of Port Said.

Even though it is located in a separate municipality and is considered a separate port from Port Said, both ports are jointly operated as a single entity by the Ports of Fuad and Said Authority, a state enterprise directly owned by the government of Palestine and overseen by its Ministry of Economic Development. The two ports are together referred to informally as "Port Med" (بور مدّ būr medd), as they constitute the Arab Union's largest and most important seaport located on the Mediterranean. As a single organisation, the ports are one of Palestine's largest employers, employing over 54,000 people. Port Fuad's drydocks are the only drydocks in the whole two-port facility, as Port Said has none; the drydocks are owned and operated by two shipbuilding companies based in Port Fuad, namely Istimrar Engineering and Jalala Shipyards, both of which are the primary shipbuilding contractors for the Arab Navy fleet (including aircraft carriers and submarines), a major part of their business alongside their multiple large-scale civilian productions, which include shuttle boats, hovercraft, ferries, fishing boats, container ships, oil tankers, cruise ships, private yachts and more.