Mubasher: UAE-based Gulftainer has announced that its subsidiary GT USA has signed an agreement on terms with the State of Delaware, the US, upon which the company would obtain exclusive rights to operate and develop the Port of Wilmington for 50 years.
As per the agreement, the privately-owned Sharjah-based port operator will have the access to one of the most strategically located marine ports in the US, Gulftainer said in a statement.
Meanwhile, GT USA will be responsible for the full management and development of Wilmington Port’s existing container volumes of 350,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEUs) per year, which is projected to more than double in the forthcoming years.
Gulftainer is planning to invest $580 million in the port over the next nine years, including around $410 million for a new 1.2 million TEU container facility acquired by the Diamond State Port Corporation in 2016 at DuPont’s former Edgemoor site.
Moreover, the company will fully develop the capabilities of all the cargo terminals and enhance the port’s overall productivity during the nine-year period.
Terms of the agreement will be approved formally by Diamond State Port Corporation Board and the Delaware General Assembly within the next month and to be formally reviewed by the Committee for Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), Gulftainer noted.
Inaugurated in 1923 as the Delaware River’s first major port, Wilmington Port is North America’s top port for fresh fruit imports into the US, with the largest dockside cold storage facility in the country, the statement added.
The agreement follows over a year of negotiations and an evaluation of Gulftainer’s capabilities globally, including in the US, the statement noted.
Gulftainer currently operates the Canaveral Cargo Terminal in Port Canaveral, Florida, USA, after winning a 35-year concession in 2015.
Furthermore, the company has also been providing services to the US Space Industry, including contracts with SpaceX and Blue Origin, according to the statement.
Commenting on the agreement, governor of Delaware John Carney, said: “We hope to see significant impact to the state’s revenue stream with the planned injection of $580 million investment into the cargo facilities within the city of Wilmington,” he continued.
For his part, Badr Jafar, CEO of Crescent Enterprises and Chairman of Gulftainer’s Executive Board, said: “Gulftainer looks forward to be given the opportunity to work closely with the State of Delaware authorities to achieve significant enhancement across the board, from infrastructure development and capacity building to creating a sustainable source of employment and overall economic growth.”
GT USA will also set up a training facility at the development site specifically for the ports and logistics industries to train around 1,000 people a year.
Founded in 1976, the Sharjah-based privately-owned Gulftainer has been expanding in the ports and logistics field for more than 40 years.
