Gulftainer
Gulftainer is an independently owned, global port operator with its corporate head office in the United Arab Emirates. Established in 1976, the company today manages about 40% of all the major container terminal facilities in the Middle East and has business operations in seven countries around the world. The company's primary business is container, with additional and bulk cargo handling within port terminals and logistics cities.
History
Gulftainer was formed in 1976 to manage and operate the Sharjah Container Terminal on behalf of the Sharjah Port Authority. Ten years later a concession was awarded to Gulftainer to manage and operate Khorfakkan Container Terminal in Khorfakkan Port and the container terminal in Hamriyah Port, Sharjah. In 2004, Gulftainer expanded beyond the UAE, initially as a consultant to the Kuwait Port Authority. Later the same year, it inaugurated the purpose-built Sharjah Inland Container Deport near the Sharjah–Dubai border. Further development continued into South Asia and Africa in 2006, as it commenced transport and logistics joint ventures with Pak Shaheen in Pakistan, and UAE based Al Marwan, to manage and operate Moroni Port in the Comoros Islands.In 2008, a transport and logistics joint venture with Demas International in Turkey lead to Gulftainer launching Momentum Logistics, a full-service third-party logistics company. Momentum was soon awarded a contract to manage logistics and vessel operations at Ruwais Port in Abu Dhabi in 2009.
The Iraqi Port Authority granted Gulftainer concessions to operate cargo facilities in Umm Qasr Port, the primary marine gateway into Iraq. Terminal operations started in 2010; and were expanded in 2012. In 2013, Gulftainer commenced development of a logistics city development in Umm Qasr, which is now fully operational.
In 2011, Gulftainer signed a major joint venture agreement with Prominvest, the financial and investment arm of Russian State Corporation, Russian Technologies to develop projects in Russia. The company made its first expansion into South America, by establishing terminal operations in the Port of Recife, Brazil in 2012. In the same year Gulftainer was awarded the concession to develop and operate a new container terminal at the Port of Tripoli in Northern Lebanon The concession is for 25 years with an investment of over USD 60 million in new equipment and machinery. In June 2013, Gulftainer completed a major acquisition by securing the majority shareholding in Saudi Arabia's Gulf Stevedoring Contracting Company almost doubling the company size. This acquisition made Gulftainer the largest port operator in the Middle East with regard to the number of terminals managed.
In June 2014, Gulftainer signed a 35-year concession with the Canaveral Port Authority in Florida, USA to operate and develop its container and multipurpose cargo terminal. The terminal, is Gulftainer's first venture in the United States.
In September 2018, Gulftainer signed another contract in the US, a 50-year concession to operate the port of Wilmington, Delaware. The deal included a US$600 million investment commitment and upgrades to training facilities and terminal capabilities.
In August 2019 Gulf Stevedoring Contracting Company began operations at the King Fahad Industrial Port, Yanbu in Saudi Arabia, handling both container and breakbulk cargo.
The Gulftainer Group operates and manages ports and logistics businesses in several countries, including the UAE, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Pakistan, and the United States.
Timeline
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bar:Leaders color:red width:25 mark: align:left fontsize:S
at:start shift: text:Gulftainer founded; Awarded contract to manage and operate Sharjah Container Terminal ; Purchased Speed Trucks and Trucktainer.
from:start till:end shift: color:blue
at:1986 shift: text:Awarded contract to manage and operate Khorfakkan Container Terminal in Sharjah
at:1995 shift: text:Opened container repair division at SCT and KCT
at:2004 shift: text:Awarded consultancy contract by Kuwait Port Authority; Inauguration of SICD
at:2006 shift: text:Commenced joint ventures with Pak Shaheen; Formed Gulf-Com in a joint venture with Al Marwan; Phase I expansion of Khorfakkan Container Terminal completed. Awarded concession to operate and manage all Comoros Island Ports
at:2008 shift: text:Commenced joint venture with Demas International; Launched Momentum
at:2009 shift: text:Awarded Logistics contract to operate Ruwais Port
at:2010 shift: text:Iraqi terminal operations commence; Signed joint venture agreement with Prominvest
at:2011 shift: text:New logistics city development in Umm Qasr; Phase II expansion of Khorfakkan Container Terminal
at:2012 shift: text:Recife terminal operations begin; Opening of Iraq Container Terminal ; Awarded Tripoli concession
at:2013 shift: text:Awarded contract to manage Northern Container Terminal, Jubail Commercial Port and King Fahad Industrial Port in KSA
at:2014 shift: text:Awarded 35-year concession to operate Canaveral Cargo Terminal; Umm Qasr Logistics Centre opens
at:2015 shift: text:Started operations in Port Canaveral, Canaveral Cargo Terminal
at:2016 shift: text:Started operations in Tripoli Port
at:2018 shift: text:Started operations in Wilmington, Delaware, USA
at:2019 shift: text:Started operations at King Fahad Industrial Port, Yanbu in Saudi Arabia
Operations
In the UAE, Gulftainer operates three container terminals on behalf of the Sharjah Port Authority:- Khorfakkan Container Terminal, strategically located on the east coast.
- Sharjah Container Terminal, based in Port Khalid, which is a major import–export facility for industries located in Sharjah, in the UAE's industrial zones, and in the Northern Emirates, along with container facilities in Hamriyah Port.
- Hamriyah Port, located on the west coast of the UAE. A deepwater seaport located in the Hamriyah Free Zone. Container operations are managed by Gulftainer.
Gulftainer's non-port business activities include providing 3PL services within the UAE, Iraq, and Pakistan. Momentum Logistics, Gulftainer's logistics subsidiary manages the group's transportation and logistics operations throughout the Middle East and Asia.
The company owns and operates three logistics centres:
- Saja'a Industrial Investment Park, situated on the outskirts of Sharjah;
- the Sharjah Inland Container Depot on the Dubai—Sharjah border with services ranging from customs clearance, warehousing and storage, to inland transportation, and;
- in Iraq, the Umm Qasr Logistics Centre, a fully integrated logistics facility, spread over an area of. enabling the direct movement of cargo from the Iraq Container Terminal in the North Port, without the need for port side customs clearance.
Recognition
Khorfakkan Container Terminal has been recognized as the most productive port in Europe, the Middle East and Africa by the Journal of Commerce in 2013. It was also awarded a second place in the top 10 terminals in EMEA and third in the top 10 worldwide ports category.Gulftainer's KCT was the first port of call in the Middle East for CMA CGM's Marco Polo – at the time, the world's largest container ship – on its maiden voyage across the Persian Gulf.
In December 2016 and October 2017, Gulftainer was awarded the "Port Terminal Operator of the Year by Seatrade Middle East Awards." This was followed by the Gulftainer company receiving the "Technology Implementation of the Year" category at the Logistics Middle East Awards 2017.
In September 2017, Gulftainer CEO Flemming Dalgaard was named Industry CEO of the Year at the ITP CEO Awards, whilst in October 2017 Gulftainer won the Corporate Health and Wellness Initiative Award at the MEED Daman Health Awards.
In March 2018, Gulftainer won the Logistics Middle East Awards 2018 for The CSR Initiative of the year.