Last Updated February 28, 2008
The UAE-based global terminal operator DP World aims at strengthening its hold on regional port operations by acquiring the Egyptian Red Sea Port of Sokhna for US$670 million. An executive at DP World announced to Khaleej Times that the company had acquired a controlling stake in the Sokhna port, located 40 kilometres south of Suez on the Red Sea but within the boundaries of the Suez Special Eonomic Zone.
The port can currently handle up to 450,000 TEUs per year and is considered one of the largest and the most modern Egyptian port able to accommodate large container vessels of over 8,000 TEUs and bulk carriers of up to 150,000 DWT. The DP World executive added that the company would invest a further US$1.3bnn over the coming three years to develop the port on top of a $916.4 million dollar investment by the Egyptian government - all of which would boost capacity to 1.2 TEUs by 2009.
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