Dubai’s DP World begins construction of $1bn Ecuador port

Dubai Ports operator DP World on Friday performed a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the beginning of construction work on a $1bn deep water port at Posorja, Ecuador.

The Ecuadorian government awarded a 50-year concession to the company last year to build a greenfield multi-purpose facility with 750,000 twenty-food container equivalent units of capacity.

Read: DP World to build $1bn port in Ecuador

The $500m first phase of the project includes the purchase of land, dredging of a new access channel, the building of a 20km access road and a 400m berth to handle containers and other cargo.

DP World said thousands of jobs would be created during construction and close to 1,000 during operations at the facility some 65km from Ecuador’s main business city, Guayaquil.

The company also plans to develop a 1 square kilometre logistics and industrial park adjacent to the port that will serve as a special economic zone.

Work on nearby access roads began in July and construction of the port is expected to take around two years to complete.

“The port has been designed to serve the growing needs of global markets – something we’ve been able to witness first-hand with our 78 terminals around the world – and will dramatically improve the global competitiveness of Ecuadorian exporters,” said DP World group chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem.