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Sharjah: UAE-based port operator Gulftainer Company Limited yesterday signed an agreement with the Comoros to develop two port facilities in the African island nation.
Gulftainer, which operates the ports of Sharjah and Khor Fakkan, is partnering with Sharjah's Al Marwan contracting group in the venture to build port capacity and improve efficiency.
Gulftainer said it will start operating the port of Moroni immediately under a 15-year contract, while it is expected to take charge of operations at Mutsamudu port in 2007.
This is Gulftainer's second overseas port management venture after Kuwait.
Idi Nadhoim, vice-president of the Union of the Comoros who looks after the country's transport and telecommunication affairs, told Gulf News the deal with the Sharjah firm would make the Comoros ports more efficient.
Gulftainer aims to raise the current annual container throughput of 100,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent container units) to 500,000 in five years.
Long term plans
The country's ports are currently used by smaller size feeder vessels carrying transshipment cargo as they are not equipped to receive large container vessels.
Since importers and exporters receive a lot of their cargo via better developed East African ports, the Comoros lacks reliable data on its direct trade with various countries.
Nadhoim said his country imports 90 per cent of its goods from the UAE and expects sea trade links to grow.
Gulftainer general manager Peter Richards said the company has long-term investment plans in the Comoros. "Initially we will be investing about $12 million in upgrading the basic infrastructure. A range of new facilities will be built in the years to come," he said.
"This contract represents a further step in our efforts to raise our global profile. We will use our expertise to help develop the transport gateways of the country, which will benefit from the cost savings through efficient cargo handling at its ports," Richards added.
The quay length can be expanded up to 800 metres from the current 200 metres. In the beginning Gulftainer will get new harbour cranes for its operations, but will look at installing fixed gantry cranes when container volume grows.
It will also increase the cargo storage area and build warehousing facilities.
Gulftainer is the UAE's second port management firm, but it is not well-known outside the country. Dubai-based DP World, which became the world's third biggest port operator since its takeover of Britain's P&O in February, has announced projects worth billions of dollars in many countries.
Richards said Gulftainer would be willing to accept large overseas projects as it is relatively easy to find potential port investors these days.
The company is currently discussing port projects in India and Turkey.
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