DP World to raise Jebel Ali port capacity to 19 million TEU by 2014

DP World will expand its flagship port Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) by creating an additional 4 million TEU capacity, raising the port's total capacity to 19 million TEU by 2014.

DP World will be investing around $850 million over three years to create 1,860 metres of quayside and 70 hectares of yard at an existing general cargo berth, converting it into a new container terminal within the existing container port, the company said in a release on Monday.

The investment will be financed from existing cash resources and future cashflows, D P World said.

The new terminal, which will operate with some of the largest and most efficient quay cranes, will have a draft of 17 metres, making it capable of handling the world's largest container vessels planned for the future.

DP World had, in October, reported record container volumes in the UAE region for 2011, with growth of 11 per cent so far this year and over a million TEU per month being handled at the port.

The new capacity proposed at Jebel Ali will ensure that the port continues to meet the growth in demand, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chairman of DP World, said.