Ports Operator News

The Australian government on Sunday described as "serious and ongoing" a cybersecurity incident that forced ports operator DP World Australia to suspend operations at ports in several states since Friday.DP World Australia, which manages nearly half of the goods that flow in and out of the country, said it was looking into possible data breaches as well as testing systems "crucial for the resumption of normal operations and regular freight movement".The breach halted operations at the containers terminals in Melbourne…

Tanzania on Sunday signed agreements with Dubai state-owned ports operator DP World to operate part of the Dar es Salaam port for 30 years, a deal that has previously been opposed by Tanzania opposition and rights groups.Plasduce Mbossa, director general of state-owned Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) which currently manages the port, said DP World will lease and operate four of the 12 berths at the country's largest port.Dar es Salaam also serves landlocked nations in east and southern Africa like Uganda…

DP World expects freight rates to drop by a further 15% to 20% in 2023 as demand slows, the Dubai-based global logistics company's deputy chief executive and chief financial officer Yuvraj Narayan told Reuters on Monday.Narayan said the first signs of a significant drop in demand were visible and freight rates on the shipping side had declined quite significantly on certain routes as agencies including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered growth forecasts.Freight rates are the prices at which cargoes are delivered by container from one point of the globe to another.The biggest problem

Leading British ports operator Peel Ports aims to become net zero of carbon emissions at all its operations by 2040 and is exploring hydrogen fuel solutions for some of its energy needs, the private group's chief executive said.Britain has said it is committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050, and finance minister Rishi Sunak told companies this week to set out plans by 2023 for a transition to a low-carbon economy.Mark Whitworth, CEO of Liverpool-headquartered Peel Ports…

The world faces "very prolonged" disruptions to shipping cargo flows, an executive at leading ports operator ICTSI said, as logistical headaches such as truck shortages weigh on backed-up supply chains and rebounding trade drives up volume.Major bottlenecks have formed across the globe in recent months due to a surge in demand for retail goods from people stuck at home under pandemic-related lockdowns and logjams impacting the supply of container ships and boxes to transport cargo.The situation has been particularly severe in major retail markets such as the United States…

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) said on Wednesday it had agreed to buy Ports America, one of the largest marine terminal operators in the United States, from investment firm Oaktree Capital Management LP.While no valuation was given in the announcement statement, the deal values Ports America at over $4 billion, according to two sources familiar with the matter.The transaction comes amid heightened interest in logistics, with supply-chain disruption in focus as the…

Ports operator DP World gave an optimistic outlook for 2021 on Thursday, citing pent-up demand for cargo and an easing of geopolitical tensions after the change of U.S. administration.Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, who is chairman and chief executive of the Dubai state-owned global ports operator, said that demand and supply chain capabilities had also improved as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.“You are always cautious ... (but) the outlook this year looks good for many reasons…

The coronavirus lockdown has accelerated a digitalization drive in a global shipping and logistics sector that still routinely delivers many documents by bike messenger in some countries, according to industry leaders.Ports operator DP World said on Thursday it would join shipping company Maersk and other peers in a blockchain platform aimed at limiting the sector's costly paper trail."The situation around the coronavirus is a very good catalyst for making sure everyone in the supply chain can communicate with each other digitally," Mike Bhaskaran, DP World's chief operating officer for logist

The timing of a trade recovery from the economic crisis caused by the new coronavirus pandemic is uncertain, global ports operator DP World warned on Thursday.The Dubai state-controlled company just last month said it was seeing demand bounce back as Chinese factories restarted, though the global spread of the virus has since drastically worsened, forcing many industries to a near halt."The timing of any recovery is uncertain with trade expected to pick up as and when global economic activity normalizes," Chief Executive Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem said in a bourse statement.DP World, which is re

South Africa is holding the cruise liner MV AIDAmira and a cargo vessel off Cape Town after a crew member on board one of the ships showed signs of the coronavirus, national ports operator Transnet said on Tuesday.On Sunday President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a state of disaster and implemented urgent measures including travel bans to fight the pandemic.As of Tuesday, 85 people in South Africa have tested positive for the coronavirus, up 23 from the previous day and including eight local transmissions, the health ministry said. The local transmissions include a 2-year-old boy.Countries around the world have barred cruise liners from entering their ports…

Dubai-based global ports operator DP World has taken a 44% stake in Frenkendorf-headquartered Swissterminal Holding, the container terminal operator in Switzerland.The parties have agreed not to disclose financial details of the transaction.Swissterminal, which is headquartered in Frenkendorf close to Basel, operates additional locations in Zurich-Niederglatt, Basel-Birsfelden, Basel-Kleinhueningen and Liestal. The terminals are well connected to Europe’s leading container ports in Rotterdam and Antwerp as well as the ports of La Spezia, Genoa, Ravenna and Trieste south of the Alps.DP World has grown from its roots in Jebel Ali Port…

Global ports operator DP World has struggled to borrow from banks to finance new investments since a port it partially owns in Djibouti was seized by the government there in 2018, its chairman said on Monday."We are investing but it is costing us more. That’s the damage," DP World Chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem told Reuters in Rwanda's capital Kigali, where the company opened a $35 million logistics platform on Monday."Fewer banks will lend us money today," he said, without giving further details.

The Dubai-based ports operator DP World announced a partnership with Zhejiang China Commodity City Group Company (CCC) to develop the ‘Traders Market’ in Jebel Ali Freezone.The project will span around 800,000 sq m, with phase 1, estimated at $150 million, covering about 220,000 sq m. Construction is expected to start in Q4 and take 24 months to complete.The Traders Market will create the first smart freezone market place in the Middle-East for the retail and wholesale industries and aims to also serve the wider region. The market will allow traders to benefit from lower supply chain costs by using the world-class multi-modal infrastructure available in Jebel Ali and Dubai.Established in 1993…

Revenue of Topaz Energy and Marine of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for the six-month period of 2019 was $235 million, an increase of 56% compared to H1 2018.Dubai-based offshore vessel operator’s first-half net income also surged to $42 million from a $4m loss recorded at the end of first six months of 2018.Earnings before interest taxes, depreciation and amortization rose by 83 percent to $141m in the first half.The global ports operator DP World acquired Topaz from Oman's Renaissance Services and Standard Chartered's private equity arm for an enterprise value of $1.08 billion (Dh3.96bn) in July.“DP World recognizes the success we have achieved and wants us to continue to deliver that going forward.

Indian private ports operator, Essar Ports Limited posted overall 17 percent growth in the cargo throughput at 13.5 million tonne for the first quarter of current fiscal ended 30 June 2019 as against 11.5 MT in the corresponding quarter last year."Higher capacity utilization at its recently commissioned terminals at Salaya and Vizag, and an increase in third-party cargo, were the two key factors that will help the Company achieve its target of handling 60 million tonnes of cargo by 31 March 2020," the Essar Group company said.Essar Ports' first quarter cargo handling performance has been very strong and brought it closer to achieving…

Dubai-based ports operator DP World hopes to run ports that Russia plans to build along an Arctic sea route intended to shorten shipping times between east and west.The quadrilateral agreement of intent with Russian Direct Investment Fund, an investment fund of the Russian Federation, Rosatom, the infrastructure operator of the NSR and Norilsk Nickel, a world leader in the production of palladium and high-quality nickel, was signed, reported Reuters.The signed deal between the Emirati company and the Russian firms is not legally binding, according to Reuters.“This is going to change the [economic] growth for Russia,” DP World Chief Executive Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem  said in an interview with Reuters in St. Petersburg.

South Africa's transport workers union Satawu threatened a "total shutdown" at major ports across the country from Thursday after issuing a 48-hour strike notice for mariners over a payment dispute, the union said on Tuesday.The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) called the strike after negotiations with management became deadlocked over salary discrepancies between black and white mariners, with what it says are white mariners drawing higher salaries than their black counterparts, even when less experienced.The union said striking workers included pilots who bring ships into port, tug masters who assist pilots…

Global ports operator DP World and industrial engineering firm SMS Group announced "Boxbay", a new and 'smart' shipping container storage system that aims to change the way that containers are handled in ports.The patented design and rack structure of the system creates unique advantages with containers stored up to eleven stories high, delivering the capacity of a conventional terminal in a third of the surface area.By being fully automated it has direct access to each container, eliminating unpaid and unproductive reshuffling. It also features significant gains in handling speed, energy efficiency, safety and a major reduction in operating…

The global ports operator Cosco Shipping Ports signed investment agreement of Cosco Shipping Ports Supply Chain Project with Guangzhou Nansha Economic and Technology Development Zone Commercial Bureau.The Cosco Group company said that it plans to develop phase I of terminal extended business in the land near Nansha Stevedoring Corporation Limited of Port of Guangzhou and Guangzhou South China Oceangate Container Terminal Company Limited, in order to develop port supply chain platform, develop high-end warehousing business and extend the upstream and downstream industries.Leveraging on Nansha Free Trade Zone’s policy and favourable geographical position…

Global ports operator Cosco Shipping Ports acquiring 60% stake in Terminales Portuarios Chancay (Chancay Terminal) from Volcan Compañía Minera for a total consideration of US$225million.Zhang Wei, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Cosco Shipping Ports and  José Picasso, Chairman of Volcan signed the agreement on behalf of the two parties.The ceremony was witnessed by Mercedes Aráoz, Vice President of Peru,  Xiao Yaqing, Chairman of State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, PRC, among others.Cosco Shipping Ports will partner with Volcan to build Chancay Terminal into an important gateway port in Peru.

COSCO Shipping Ports said that its revenue  for the three months ended 30 September 2018  surged by 62.6% to US$253.0 million. The net profit for the same period rose by 11.8% to US$75.1 million.The  ports operator in a press release also said that the revenue for the nine months ended 30 September 2018 was surged by 73.5% to US$748.4 million where as adjusted net profit rose by 46.6% to US$244.1 million,For the nine months ended 30 September 2018, the Group’s total throughput increased by 20.6% to 87,518,295 TEU (corresponding period of 2017: 72,575,641 TEU); excluding QPI, the Group’s total throughput increased by 12.8% to 73,168,295 TEU (corresponding period of 2017: 64…

Dubai-based ports operator DP World has revealed plans to set up a logistics facility in landlocked Ethiopia, a move that comes as the company is developing a port in neighboring Somaliland. A reuters report quoting the United Arab Emirates state news agency, WAM said that the Sultan bin Sulayem, DP World Group's chairman & CEO and chairman of Ports, Customs and Free Zone Corporation informed the media that the logistics complex in Ethiopia to cater to the landlocked African countries. Business groups in Dubai can always benefit from DP World's presence in different countries, including Rwanda and Egypt, where re-exporting opportunities are abundant, bin Sulayem quoted as saying.

DP World, the Dubai-based ports operator, announced it has won a 30-year concession for the management and development of a port project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The deal gives DP World an option to extend its management and development for a further 20 years, and is for a greenfield multi-purpose port at Banana. "The Port of Banana will be the first deep-sea port in the country along its small coastline of 37 kilometres, which currently only has the riverine port of Matadi," said a statement. DP World will set up a joint venture with 70% control, and the government of DRC holding a 30% share, to manage and invest in the Port of Banana.