RIYADH - Today, the Public Transport Authority reviewed the results of the economic feasibility study for transporting passengers by sea between cities and islands overlooking the eastern and western coasts of the Kingdom, through a workshop organized by the authority via video communication, headed by the Authority's Chairman, Dr. Rumaih bin Muhammad Al-Rumaih.

Twenty-two government and private agencies participated in it, and focused on analyzing the current situation and reading the local market to find out the potential marine routes along the 3,400 km along the two coasts, and identifying five main proposed areas comprising 14 marine routes serving the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea.

It is expected that 16.3 million passengers annually will benefit from this project, which will connect cities and islands on the east coast through 7 marine lanes and 7 other tracks on the west coast. It will also create more than 38.3 thousand direct and indirect job opportunities, and add 8.9 billion riyals to the output. gross domestic.

Within the framework of the proposed marine routes, the eastern coast included seven tracks: Jubail Corniche, Ras Tanura, Dareen, Dammam and Khobar Corniche, all the way to Half Moon Beach and then Uqair. On the west coast, the seven tracks cover Jizan with Farasan Island, and the water taxi in Jeddah, passing through King Abdullah City. Economic and then major projects in the Red Sea, such as the Red Sea Project, Amaala, and up to Duba.