Dubai port operator DP World has completed the first phase of its $1.2bn port in Posorja, Ecuador.
The $540m scheme has created a terminal with the capacity to handle 750,000 containers a year. It also dredged a 40 mile long, 16.5m deep navigation channel and a 20km access road for trucking.
The second phase of the work will expand the port to 1.5 million units and allow it to handle ultra large container vessels. It will also construct a special economic zone based on Dubai’s Jebel Ali.
Ahmed Bin Sulayem, DP World’s chairman and chief executive, commented in a press release: "The beginning of operations at Posorja is a defining moment in Ecuador’s economic growth. The new Port and Special Economic Zone will significantly improve Ecuador’s global competitiveness and position the country as a dynamic business hub for the west coast of South America, following the model that has been tried and tested in Dubai and around the world."
The project has backing from the Inter-American Development Bank, two European investment banks and the China Co-financing Fund for Latin America and Caribbean Region.
DP World has been granted a 50-year concession to operate the new port.
The company is also expanding in Peru. Since building the greenfield Port of Callao, it has acquired shipping agency Cosmos Agencia Maritima, and logistics companies Neptunia and Triton Transport.
Image: DP World chairman Ahmed Bin Sulayem (third from left) at Posorja port (DP World)
Further reading:
