Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation's 5,551 TEU container vessel YM Wealth on China Gulf Express service calls at Umm Qasr Port

Senior Iraqi government officials attend ceremony to mark milestone

Sharjah-UAE: 24 July, 2017 – Gulftainer, the largest privately owned independent port operator, received the largest container vessel to call at Iraqi ports to date. The vessel, YM Wealth, deployed by Taiwan-based shipping line Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation (Yang Ming), arrived at Gulftainer’s Iraq Container Terminal (ICT) facility.

Gulftainer marked the momentous occasion with a reception that drew the participation of Omran Radhi Thani, Director General of the National Ports Authority of Iraq, Osama Ali al-Maliki, Director of the Umm Qasr Customs Authority, and Rafi'e Yosif Abbas, Director General of the Iraqi State Company for Maritime Transport. Representatives of the Basra Governorate, shipping agencies in Iraq and other senior officials were also in attendance.

Yang Ming currently operates a fleet of 98 vessels, primarily container ships, with the combined capacity of approximately 590,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU). The company deployed the YM Wealth for the China Gulf Express (CGX) service on a revised route that now includes a call at the Umm Qasr Port, offering a direct connection between the Far East and Iraq. On her maiden call to ICT, the 5,551 TEU vessel discharged and loaded over 2,500 containers.

Speaking on the occasion, Flemming Dalgaard, Gulftainer’s CEO, said: “The arrival of the YM Wealth marked a major milestone for Gulftainer as well as the Umm Qasr Port. This achievement reinforces Gulftainer’s commitment to providing Iraq with best-in-class container-handling facilities. Having witnessed the tremendous potential this market offers, we remain dedicated to enhancing our capabilities in Iraq to attract the world’s leading operators and take on larger-capacity vessels.”  

Gulftainer expanded its operations to Iraq in 2008, making it the first international company to set up a container terminal at the Umm Qasr Port. In addition to ICT, the company operates the Iraq Project Terminal (IPT). In 2015, Gulftainer also set up the Umm Qasr Logistics Centre (UQLC), a 750,000 sq m facility that offers significant logistics support to Iraq’s oil and gas projects sector. Managed by its 3PL logistics arm, Momentum Logistics, UQLC provides a wide range of value-added services to customers in the port, including customs clearance, bonded and non-bonded storage areas, warehousing, cold storage, LCL services, rental offices and accommodation.

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About Gulftainer

Gulftainer is the world’s largest privately owned independent port operator. Established in the emirate of Sharjah in 1976, the rapidly expanding ports and logistics company has built up a strong presence in various parts of the world. Gulftainer won the 'Technology Implementation of the Year' category in the Logistics Middle East Awards 2017. In 2016, The Seatrade Maritime Awards named Gulftainer the Terminal Operator of the Year in the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent and Africa region

In the UAE, the company operates two main ports on behalf of the Sharjah Port Authority – Sharjah Container Terminal (SCT) and Khorfakkan Container Terminal (KCT). Its flagship terminal, KCT, was recognised by the Journal of Commerce as the fastest terminal in the MENA region and the third-fastest in the world.

Outside the UAE, the Gulftainer Group operates and manages ports and logistics businesses in several countries including Iraq (Iraq Container Terminal, Iraq Project Terminal and Umm Qasr Logistics Centre), Pakistan (GTL-MTI), Brazil (Recife Port), Lebanon (Tripoli Container Terminal) and Turkey (Momentum Logistics). In Saudi Arabia, Gulftainer acquired a 51 per cent stake in Gulf Stevedoring Contracting Company (GSCCO) in June 2013, and now operates the Northern Container Terminal in Jeddah, Jubail Industrial Port and Jubail Commercial Port. The company’s latest facility, Canaveral Cargo Terminal in Florida, USA, opened in June 2015 following the signing of a 35-year agreement that made Gulftainer the first port management company from the Middle East to operate in the United States. 

Currently handling an annual throughput of 6.5 million TEUs, Gulftainer aims to expand its global portfolio in the next 10 years to triple business volume worldwide to more than 10,000 vessel calls and triple container handling to 18 million TEUs. For further details, please visit www.gulftainer.com. 

For media enquiries, please contact:
Kathryn Bradley
PR and Communications Manager
Gulftainer
+9716 5128888
Kbradley@gulftainer.com

Christy Abraham
APCO Worldwide
+9715 51 342859
cabraham@apcoworldwide.com

Saanya Gulati
APCO Worldwide
+9715 28 631778
sgulati@apcoworldwide.com

© Press Release 2017