Speaking to AIM after the meeting, DP World’s senior vice president Mohammed Al Muallem explained that this profit came from the company’s 65 marine terminals located across six continents. In total the company handled 55 million TEU (the standard size of a twenty foot long container).
Key to its worldwide operations is avoiding congestion.
In Maputo Port there have been severe traffic delays with trucks waiting to get into the port tailing back onto the EN4 highway. This has mainly been due to a huge increase in the number of trucks using the port because the railway line from Ressano Garcia was closed in January after damage to a railway bridge.
In response to the congestion, Maputo Port is working on a two million dollar project to improve the access roads, increasing the number of lanes from two to five.
DP World’s flagship operation at Jebel Ali Port, just outside the city of Dubai, last year handled 14 million TEU of cargo without any delays to trucks. Every day the port handles 3,500 trucks and the company is committed to ensuring that any truck arriving at its gates is able to leave those same gates, having deposited or picked up its container, within half an hour.
Mohammed Al Muallem explained that this was only possible by making sure that capacity is always greater than demand. In addition, the company has invested heavily in installing technology so that all the necessary paperwork, from paying the port, customs and insurance to clearing imports with relevant authorities, can be done online. As long as everything is completed, the system recognises a truck’s number plates and it can pass all the port’s barriers without even stopping.
Mohammed Al Muallem told AIM of the Emirates’ historic link with east Africa, with older members of his family being fluent in Swahili due to their frequent trips along the African coast.
In March Jebel Ali Port was visited by Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, and Al Muallem stressed that “we were very happy with what President Guebuza said about developments in Mozambique”.
Worldwide, the company employs 30,000 staff and plans to expand capacity so that by 2020 it can handle 103 million TEU. It is looking in particular to growth in the emerging markets of Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
DP World holds a 30-year concession to operate the container terminal at Maputo Port until 2033, with an option to extend for a further 10 years.
Post published in: Africa News