WASHINGTON: DP World has won a 50-year concession for the development of a greenfield multi-purpose port project at Posorja, Ecuador, 65km from the country’s main business city of Guayaquil. The first phase of the project, which involves an initial investment of US$500m, will include the purchase of land, dredging of a new access channel, a 20km access road and a 400m berth equipped to handle containers and other cargo.
Construction is expected to start within the next six to nine months and take around 24 months to complete, resulting in a 750,000 TEU throughput capacity. Eventually, the aim is to develop a logistics zone that will serve as a regional trading hub. DP World said the total investment will exceed US$1bn and the project will create thousands of jobs. The project will focus on containers with the capability to handle other types of cargo and will be implemented with DP World’s local partners, Consorcio Nobis and Grupo Vilaseca, the company said in a press release.
“We look forward to bringing DP World’s world class productivity-enhancing, security, safety and environmental best practices in container terminal development and operation to Ecuador,” said Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chairman and CEO of DP World.
DP World said the new port would offer Ecuadorean importers and exporters a unique deep-water alternative that will dramatically improve the competitiveness of their products in world markets and has the potential to transform the Ecuadorean economy.
“Posorja Port will complement DP Worlds extensive network in South America by creating a new deep-water gateway for Ecuador’s global trade with a range of benefits that include Access to a 15m draft compared to the current 9.75m drafts at the existing Guayaquil ports,” the company said. It will provide much-needed additional capacity for the existing Guayaquil terminals which last year recorded throughput of over 1.75 million TEU and are operating close to their existing limits.
