Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktroum awarded the Port Rashid Management and Operating Contract to Gray Mackenzie and Co.
Gray Mackenzie and Co were shipping agents so had no Port Management expertise.
They established a subsidiary company, Dubai Port Services, to run the Contract.
Experienced Staff were recruited to staff Dubai Port Services.
Dubai Ports Services managed and operated Port Rashid from 1970 until 1984.
Circa 1975, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia visited Dubai.
Sheikh Rashid took the Crown Prince on a tour of Port Rashid as he did with all his visitors.
During that tour, Crown Prince commented on how neat and tidy Port Rashid looked.
Crown Prince then asked how Port Rashid was managed.
Sheikh Rashid explained he had awarded a port management contract to Gray Mackenzie and Co.And Then.....
Gray Mackenzie's parent company, The Inchcape Group in London, received an invitation from Saudi Arabian Embassy in London for Inchcape to send their team of Port Experts to Riyadh for discussions with a Government Minister about Jeddah Port.
Inchcape had no Port Experts so forwarded the Invitation to Gray Mackenzie Dubai with instructions to respond to the Saudi Embassy's invitation.
Outcome was Port Rashid's Port Manager and Engineer joined Gray Mackenzie's Area Managing Director and an Inchcape Director to fly to Riyadh for the meeting with Saudi Government's Deputy Minister of Communications.
Minister made clear Jeddah Port was dysfunctional and preventing import of much needed development materials.
Minister instructed Gray Mackenzie's Team to meet with Jeddah Port's Director General and his Advisors, which they duly did the following day.
Jeddah Port's Director General was welcoming and willing to discuss his problems. His Advisors were mostly retired Indian Navy Admirals with little experience of commercial ports.
Gray Mackenzie's Team indicated what they could possibly offer as solutions. DG arranged for the Team to tour Jeddah Port later that day to see the problems.
Team was driven to Jeddah Port's gates at 3pm that afternoon. After a lengthy wait, two Police Vehicles arrived each carrying four armed Policemen. One vehicle positioned itself on front of the Team's car and the other behind the car.
Policeman in charge said they would conduct the Team on a tour of Jeddah Port. The Team was not to leave their car or take photographs.
So started a slow conducted tour of Jeddah Port.
I have some indelible memories of that tour.
- A very large multi-wheeled hydraulic crane, possibly a 100 tonne lift, was parked on the quayside. It had been unloaded from a ship months ago but not moved since. No one knew how to drive it!
- Security would not let anyone from outside into the Port to drive the machine.
- There were a number of stacks of bags containing cement where the bags had rotted and the stacks had collapsed. Incoming cargoes of cars had been parked along the cement bag stacks with those stacks now collapsed onto the cars. I recall seeing the rear end of a Lamborghini Uracco sticking out from under a pile of cement bags.
- In one storage yard, there were many trailers parked carrying containers. We were told a Roll On Roll Off ship had started to call at Jeddah Port carrying Container mounted on road trailers. Saudi Customs had seemingly agreed for the Containers to be imported without realising the Containers would be mounted on trailers. They refused entry for the trailers so everything was parked up and forgotten.
- At the Engineering Workshops I saw the floors were awash with oil. Much later it was discovered the waste oil tank drain was blocked and no effort had been made to clear it.
Port Engineer's Recollections.
A week after leaving Saudi Arabia, Gray Mackenzie submitted their proposal to the Deputy Minister of Commuications outlining how GM's proposed to tackle Jeddah Port's problems. Minister accepted Gray Mackenzie's proposal on a cost plus basis but insisted Gray Macs had 1,200 people on site within 30 days of signing the agreement.
Gray Macs had no suitable staff available. However, they did have connections throughout the shipping industry and were able to attract staff by offering well paid short term employment contracts.
Gray Macs met the 30 day deadline of 1,200 people on site. Staff levels subsequently increased to around 2,600.
Gray Macs eventually turned Jeddah Port into an efficient working port. Much needed development materials started to flow through Jeddah Port.
Gray Macs and its people were well rewarded. Later, a new Director General of Sea Ports was appointed. He was critical of Gray Mackenzie's activities, unreasonably so.
Eventually, Gray Mackenzie's Contract came to an end. By then Jeddah Port was fully functional.
Later, it emerged that several British Consultancies had been in discussion with Saudi Ports about Jeddah Port. These Consultancies were supported by the British Government.
Gray Mackenzie was awarded the Contract as they made clear what they would do to solve Jeddah Port's problems.
Consultancies, however, told Jeddah Port Management what they needed to do to solve their problems!