Etihad Rail Freight has partnered with the Abu Dhabi Fishermen Cooperative Society to transport fresh fish by rail, moving refrigerated cargo from Al Sila’ Port directly to Abu Dhabi Fish Market.
The arrangement puts temperature-controlled containers onto the UAE’s national rail network, with Etihad Rail Freight handling collection at source and final delivery as part of what the company describes as a fully integrated first-and-last-mile logistics operation. The road legs are handled by branded Etihad Rail trucks, with the rail network covering the bulk of the route.
The company says the cold-chain setup preserves fish quality and cuts transit times compared with conventional road transport, though no specific figures were provided. Al Sila’, on the UAE’s western coast near the Saudi border, is one of the country’s main fishing ports.
For Etihad Rail Freight, the partnership adds a perishables stream to a freight network that has historically moved industrial and bulk commodities. The subsidiary has been widening its commercial scope: an earlier milestone saw it move passenger vehicles for Al Masaood Automobiles, the first such rail shipment in the country.
The cooperative angle matters here. The ADFCS represents fishermen for whom logistics costs and spoilage are direct threats to income. If the rail option proves commercially viable at scale, it could represent a meaningful alternative for a sector the UAE government has long positioned as part of the national economic and cultural heritage.
Etihad Rail Freight frames the initiative as consistent with the UAE’s broader emissions reduction goals, given rail’s lower carbon intensity relative to long-haul road freight.
