DPI gets deal to manage Fujairah Port

The agreement between the Fujairah Port Authority and DPI also includes an option to mutually extend the concession by a further 20 years, potentially taking the contract through to 2055.

Fujairah's deep-water facility has over 1.3km of quay and DPI's total projected investment in the terminal will exceed Dh568 million ($155 million), including new super-post Panamax ship-to-shore gantry cranes and yard handling equipment to lift annual capacity to an eventual 1.7 million TEU.

Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem, executive chairman of the Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corp, said: "This concession will enable us to streamline operations at the major container facilities of the UAE, and offer enhanced service levels to our customers."

"We are proud to have been selected by the Fujairah Port Authority to develop this key UAE trade centre." 

Shaikh Saleh Mohammad Hamad Al Sharqi, Chairman of the Fujairah Port Authority, said: "This is an exciting development for Fujairah.

"We believe our facility has the potential to become a leading regional container facility, reaching projected volumes.

"We are fully committed to making Fujairah fulfil this potential in partnership with DPI.

" Fujairah Port will continue to function independently as a multi-purpose facility Port catering to all non-container business activities, including general and bulk cargoes, oil terminals and other marine services."

In January 2005, DPI signed MoUs with the port authorities of Abu Dhabi and Fujairah Port which paved the way for greater synergies in the UAE's container terminal operations, giving consistent and equal service levels for customers ultimately providing choice with confidence.      

In 2004, DPI achieved year on year growth of 26.5 per cent at its five international port operations - Jeddah, Djibouti, Vizag, Kochi and Constantza.

Subsequently, in December 2004, DPI agreed to acquire CSX World Terminals a leading international terminal developer and operator with operations in Asia, Europe, Australia and Latin America.

This transaction was completed last February 22 and makes Dubai Ports, which includes DPI and DPA (Dubai Ports Authority) the sixth largest global ports operator.