The fourth largest container terminal operator in the world has signed an approximately 30-year lease with the Port of Saint John to operate its container terminal on the city’s west side, which is said to be the largest private sector investment in the port in decades.
DP World, which has its headquarters in Dubai and employs 37,000 people globally, is going to be investing millions of dollars in equipment according to chair of the Saint John Port Authority Peter Gaulton, who tells us they have an agreement with DP World to modernize the equipment at the port — including getting new cranes.
“When…some of the bigger ships come in, the current cranes cannot handle the air draft if the ship is loaded to its top. They have to wait for the tide to go down” says Gaulton. “These new cranes that we hope DP World is going to bring in will solve that problem, they’ll be higher and they’ll also reach out further so they can handle bigger ships.”
Signing of the lease. pic.twitter.com/JtibBmpbo5
— Laura Lyall (@LauraLyall) July 28, 2016
Port of Saint John CEO Jim Quinn called it a historic day and says that this partnership is the next step to making Port Saint John and New Brunswick North America’s East coast energy connection to world trade. He says there are over 300 ports worldwide accessible through Port Saint John.
“DP World will work with us to more than double our current container traffic by 2025, we’re gonna move from 100,000 TEUs to 250,000 TEUs and onward to 350,000 TEUs,” says Quinn. “That’s our mission that’s our goal and that’s what we’re gonna do and DP’s gonna help us get there.”
In Canada, DP World has terminal operations in Prince Rupert, Vancouver and Nanaimo and the CEO of DP World Sultan Ahmed Sulayem tells us they were missing the eastern part of Canada. He says they decided to get involved with Port Saint John because they saw growth at the port.
“An East coast port is the missing link we believe will complete this operation,” he says. “In logistics, in our operation, the more synergy between the ports, the more connection, the more business you can create.”
‘We want to capitalize on this location for logistics,’ says Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, CEO of DP World. pic.twitter.com/DzRzchzQIp
— Laura Lyall (@LauraLyall) July 28, 2016
This announcement comes on the heels of the Port Saint John announcement that they had secured federal funding for their $205-million west side modernization project. It was the final piece of the funding puzzle for the project which is split three ways between the port, province and the federal government.
Thrilled to be part of / welcome @DpworldCanada today. Another transformational announcement @PortSaintJohn for SJ! pic.twitter.com/NlPLjcraCy
— Wayne Long (@WayneLongSJ) July 28, 2016
Long term lease being signed. 5 years in the making. @PortSaintJohn @DpworldCanada pic.twitter.com/g2ESdxZOHX
— Don Darling (@dondarlingSJ) July 28, 2016
