Dubai: DP World said on Tuesday that it had won a 50 year concession for the development of a greenfield multi-purpose port project at Posorja, Ecuador.
The project’s total investment will be over $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion), with thousands of jobs created during construction, including close to 1,000 jobs during operations, and plans to develop a logistics zone to create a regional trading hub, according to a company statement.
The first phase of the project will see an investment of $500 million, which will include the purchase of land, dredging of a new access channel, a 20km access road and a 400 metre that can handle containers and other cargo.
Construction is expected to start within the next 6-9 months and take around 24 months to complete, resulting in 750,000 TEUs (twenty-foot containers equivalent) of capacity.
The project will focus on containers that can handle other types of cargo and will be implemented with DP World’s local partners, Consorcio Nobis and Grupo Vilaseca.
“Posorja will contribute to our continued growth in the developing markets of South America in the years ahead. This investment builds on our existing network in the region, with terminals in Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Suriname,” stated Sultan Ahmad Bin Sulayem, group chairman and chief executive of DP World.
Posorja Port will create a new deep-water gateway for Ecuador’s global trade with benefits, including access to a 15m draft compared to the current 9.75 metre drafts at the existing Guayaquil ports and additional capacity for the Guayaquil terminals, among others.
