UAE’s Gulftainer to operate US port of Wilmington

Gulftainer, the UAE-based port operator, on Wednesday said it won a 50-year concession to operate and develop the Wilmington port in Delaware, US, with a $600m investment.

Privately-owned Gulftainer currently operates the Canaveral Cargo Terminal in the Port of Canaveral, Florida and provides services to the U.S. armed forces and the U.S. space industry.

The Delaware concession agreement completes a preliminary agreement between Gulftainer and the State of Delaware, as well as the completion of a formal review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), granting Gulftainer exclusive rights to manage the port.

Gulftainer plans to invest up to $600m in the port, including $400m on a new 1.2 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) container facility at DuPont’s former Edgemoor site, which was acquired by the Diamond State Port Corporation in 2016.

“Since Gulftainer’s entry into the U.S. through our operations in Port Canaveral in 2015, we have discovered major untapped potential in this sector and we will continue to look for attractive investment opportunities in the region,” Gulftainer chairman Badr Jafr said in a statement.

Plans for the port also include development of all cargo terminal capabilities and training facilities for up to 1,000 people a year at the site for the ports and logistics industries.