Ajman port likely to add berths

Ajman port is in for an expansion. Emirates Port Services (EPS), which has bagged a 10-year contract to manage the port, has appointed Dubai-based Halcrow to carry out a study on expansion prospects.

Hameed Ibrahim, director of EPS, said Ajman port was planning to increase the number of berths from 14 to 16, subject to the proposals from Halcrow, expected to be ready within two months.

Dredging to a draft of 10.5 metres from 8 metres is also on the cards, as are warehouse and building constructions in the port premises.

Initially, EPS might spend some Dh25 million.

EPS is a joint venture between Emirates Trading Agency (ETA) and Ras Al Khaimah-based Union Group.

Ajman port was managed by Ajman Port Services (APS), part of the Momentum Group, until EPS won the contract recently through bidding, in which Momentum also participated, apart from other two companies.

Khorfakkan is the only other port in the country being managed by a private company, Gulftainer Co Ltd, for the last 14 years.

Though Jebel Ali port was initially managed by SeaLand, which has now merged with Maersk to become the largest shipping company in the world, it is now being managed by Dubai Ports Authority.

Ibrahim said the uniqueness of Ajman port was that, unlike some others in the region, almost all cargo entering it was meant for import, and not for transshipment.

EPS, which employs more than 240 people, planned to increase the volume of cargo handling, he added, and hoped that by the second year it would be in a position to handle 50 per cent more cargo and effect a corresponding rise in employment.

The port, which had a depth of five metres when it was first built, has been developed into an 8-metre-deep port. It now expects to convert into a 10.5 metre-deep port, enabling visits by 40,000-50,000 DWT ships of length up to 175 metres.

In the Middle East, Halcrow provides transport, water, property, development, environmental and energy consultancy services across North Africa to Dubai.

It has permanent offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah besides Doha in Qatar, currently employing more than 250 staff in the Middle East.