ADT agrees deal with ADPC to manage and operate Khalifa Port Container Terminal 1

Abu Dhabi Terminals (ADT) has secured the exclusive right to manage and operate the first Khalifa Port container terminal by signing a 30-year concession with Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC).

The concession for Khalifa Port Container Terminal 1 was signed during a ceremony at Emirates Palace.

“The concession secures the effective management and operation of Khalifa Port Container Terminal 1 for the next 30 years and will help to enable significant industrial development and diversification,” said ADPC chairman, Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber.

“As a world-class gateway, Khalifa Port will enable businesses in Kizad to have a competitive edge in global trade that will allow them to thrive.”

Kizad, or the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi, is slightly less than 420 square kilometres of land for industrial development adjacent to the new port island. Together, the two projects are expected to contribute 15 percent of the capital’s non-oil gross domestic product by 2030.

Khalifa Port, which began commercial operations on September 1 this year, currently operates six of the world’s largest STS cranes and is the only semi-automated container terminal in the Middle East. After another three STS cranes and 12 stacking cranes are delivered by 2014, it will have the capacity to handle 2.5 million containers annually, finishing phase one of the project. The capacity of the existing port island can then be doubled to five million containers per annum in line with demand.