DP World Highlights for 2013

2013 was a remarkable year for global marine terminal operator DP World. Despite challenging market conditions and uncertainties that impacted the industry, the company maintained its focus on improving efficiencies, expanding capacity, enhancing its position as one of the top industry leaders globally and driving profitability.

As a premier partner in the UAE’s successful bid to host Expo 2020 in Dubai, DP World played, through its global portfolio, an instrumental role in taking the message across the world.

The year began and ended on a positive note for the company:

January

– DP World launched ‘Dreams of the Sea’, a major interactive project that for the first time ever collects the stories of those involved in Dubai and the UAE’s maritime history into an on-line archive available to all.

“Dreams of the Sea: The Dubai Maritime History Project” is centred on a bilingual interactive website (www.dreamsofthesea.ae) that holds video interviews, photos and first-hand accounts of people involved in the city and the nation’s maritime history – from pearl divers and fishermen to historians and business leaders.

The project was officially launched on January 14 with the formal opening of an exhibition at the Dubai Heritage Village in the Shindaga Historical Area.

It also includes the launch of a book in Arabic and in English capturing the dreams and memories of those who witnessed and were part of the development of Dubai from a shelter for ships to a vibrant modern city that is the centre for trade for the region and an active player on the world stage.

DP World set a new milestone when its Dubai ports handled their 100 millionth container in the decade 2003 to 2013.

The 100 million TEU (twenty foot equivalent container units) record was achieved between January 2003 and January 2013 and covered all container boxes handled in both Mina Rashid and Jebel Ali Port. DP World, UAE Region’s annual container throughput increased more than 150% over the decade, from around five million TEU in 2003 to 13.3 million TEU in 2012.

In all, the two container ports have handled 135 million TEU since the opening of Jebel Ali Port in 1979, around 75% of it since 2003.

DP World’s flagship Jebel Ali Port, the largest man-made harbour in the world, welcomed the maiden visit of the world’s largest containership at the time, CMA CGM Marco Polo, owned by the CMA CGM Group.

This milestone reinforces Dubai’s and the port’s role as a regional gateway for the new generation of mega vessels.

March

Giant cranes taller than the London Eye sailed into the Thames Estuary and berthed at the UK’s new global shipping port, DP World’s London Gateway, at the end of a two-month sea voyage from China. The London Eye could be rolled underneath the three new cranes, which measure 138 metres tall at full height.

Weighing 2,000 tonnes each, the cranes are taller than Wembley Stadium’s arch and two-and-a-half times the height of Nelson’s Column. They are the first in the UK to be able to lift four containers at once, which means the world’s largest ships will be loaded and unloaded more efficiently in future.

DP World’s Vallarpadam terminal received its first transhipment mainline service, becoming India’s first and only transhipment hub.

This followed the Indian government waiving cabotage regulations for the terminal, which until then had prevented mainline services transhipping at Vallarpadam, instead making lines transfer to local carriers. The law was changed based on DP World’s efforts to make Vallarpadam a hub port for India and the region.

The International Container Transhipment Terminal (ICTT), also known as DP World Cochin, will be part of the new port rotation of the Asia-Indian Subcontinent-East Med (AME) service connecting China to the Mediterranean via the Indian subcontinent, with Cochin being the first port of call in India from China.

April

DP World announced the successful completion of the largest dredging programme at its flagship Jebel Ali Port in 10 years as part of the expansion project of Terminal 2.

In total, 477,000 cubic metres of soil have been dredged from 2900 metres of quay wall at the roll-on roll-off (roro) vehicle carrier terminal, the tanker terminal and three container berths. The dredging deepened the draught of the roro and tanker berths from -10.5 to -11.5 metres while container berths 14, 16 and 17 were extended from -14 to -16 metres.

June

Opening of the new extension to Container Terminal 2 (T2) at flagship Jebel Ali Port

The expansion adds 1 million TEU to take capacity at Jebel Ali Port to 15 million TEU, extending the T2 quay wall by 400 metres to 3,000 metres. This allows the simultaneous handling of six mega ships. Together with Container Terminal 3, which is now under construction, Jebel Ali Port will reach 19 million TEU capacity in 2014 and will be able to handle 10 of the giant new generation vessels at the same time – the only port in the region able to do so.

Marks & Spencer (M&S) and DP World London Gateway jointly announced that M&S will build a major new distribution centre at the new deep-sea container port and logistics park on the Thames in South Essex, just 25 miles from central London

The announcement marked a major milestone in the development of the 1,500-acre site located adjacent to DP World London Gateway. It provides a unique port centric logistics platform which will simplify supply chains for cargo and freight forwarders reducing costs and carbon emissions.

DP World and Jawaharlal Nehru Port held a ceremonial signing of the concession awarded to DP World to construct and operate a new container terminal at the port.

The new 330 metre berth with 27 hectares of yard will add 800,000 TEUs of container capacity and help ease congestion at Jawaharlal Nehru Port. DP World will invest around US$200 million to build the terminal adjacent to the Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal (NSICT), which DP World currently operates.

October

DP World, UAE Region officially rolled out a new initiative that uses smartphone mobile applications to integrate its entire range of customer services at Jebel Ali Port.

The smart new approach to boost productivity and enhance operational efficiencies for imports and exports passing through the DP World flagship facility was unveiled on the opening day of the GITEX Technology Week in Dubai.

November

DP World and Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ), Kazakhstan’s national railway company, signed an agreement that will see DP World provide management advisory services for the development of the Khorgos Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and Inland Container Depot (ICD). DP World will also provide similar services under a separate contract at the Port of Aktau, Kazakhstan’s main cargo and bulk terminal on the Caspian Sea.

The two agreements support Kazakhstan’s plans to transform and modernise its transport and logistics infrastructure to develop its strategic position as part of a New Silk Way rail-land bridge between the manufacturing hubs of China, and consumer markets in Central Asia and Europe.

DP World London Gateway deep-sea port celebrated the arrival of first scheduled vessel, the ‘MOL Caledon’ from South Africa after more than a decade of planning and construction across three square miles of development.

Providing British exporters and importers with a more efficient way to ship globally, at less cost, DP World London Gateway is located closer to major population centres of London, Birmingham and Manchester than other ports that are capable of handling the world’s biggest ships. Once fully operational, London Gateway will create 36,000 jobs and contribute £3.2bn to UK GDP annually (Source: Oxford Economics).

2013 also saw initial volumes handled at Embraport terminal located within Brazil’s largest port, Santos, near Sao Paulo The one million TEU capacity Empresa Brasileira de Terminais Portuários (Embraport) is the largest private multi-modal marine terminal in the city of Santos. It has been built adjacent to Porto de Santos, which is the biggest Brazilian container port with 90% of its cargo destined for the local São Paulo market. There is excellent road and rail connectivity to the site.

Thought leadership

In April DP World announced the launch of the TURN8 seed accelerator programme designed to encourage innovative entrepreneurship worldwide, starting with Dubai.

TURN8 looks for people with ingenious ideas that can be refined and brought to market through a “seed accelerator,” a programme that selects start-up teams with marketable ideas and supports them with funding, mentoring and training in exchange for a stake in any resulting business.

In October Turn8 unveiled the final 10 innovative ideas bidding to be developed into commercially-viable businesses.

The 10 teams of two are being supported with funding, mentoring and training in Dubai in exchange for a stake in any resulting business under TURN8, the region’s only programme that offers cradle-to-commercialisation support for innovative start-ups.

In October, Turn8 organised a 1-day seminar on start-up funding options led by Brent Traidman, a Venture Partner with Fenox Venture Capital of San Jose, California.

In November TURN8 embarked on a second round of its programme looking for entrepreneurship and innovation.

CSC Leaders for Students

In September DP World joined forces with international leadership development organisation, Common Purpose in hosting the four-day CSCLeaders for Students, an international leadership development conference.

More than 90 students from 25 countries took part in the conference. The group included 18 UAE nationals drawn from universities across the UAE.

CSCLeaders for Students is a series of student conferences held in major cities where significant numbers of students from across the Commonwealth study. They bring together young people studying in the host city to tackle a significant challenge and build networks for the future.

Counter Piracy Conference

In September DP World joined hands with the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Abu Dhabi Ports Company to co-convene the 3rd public-private international counter-piracy conference.

It was attended by around 750 government and industry leaders, including more than 20 minister-level government officials, who pledged their continued support for sustainable capacity building in Somalia that would lead to meaningful, long term solutions to eradicate maritime piracy, who pledged their continued support for sustainable capacity building in Somalia that would lead to meaningful, long term solutions to eradicate maritime piracy.

The conference, held for the first time in 2011, is a reflection of the commitment of the UAE to bring together all stakeholders affected by piracy. Forging this important dialogue involving governments and industry is an important vehicle to strengthen public-private partnership in the common fight against maritime piracy.

AWARDS

In February: DP World, UAE Region was for the second time recognised in the prestigious Dubai Awards for Sustainable Transport (DAST) initiated by the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA).

For the second consecutive year, the largest regional port operator was honoured for its work in improving the efficiency of the supply chain and the environment, winning the second prize in the Environmental Protection category for its “Sustainable Port Transport Fleet” project, which aims to reduce energy and fuel consumption, CO2 emissions, and waste.

In March: DP World, UAE Region won the UAE’s Terminal Operator Company of The Year category from Frost & Sullivan

DP World, UAE Region also won the Best Sea Port of the year at the first Trade and Export Middle East Excellence Awards.

In May: DP World won the prestigious Golden Peacock Award for Business Excellence for 2013 for its professionalism and quality operations across its five marine terminals in India.

The annual award was presented at a ceremony in Dubai in recognition of DP World’s business practices in India. It marks the third year running that the company has won a Golden Peacock Award.

Also in May, DP World’s flagship Jebel Ali Port was named “Shipping Port of the Year” at the prestigious annual Supply Chain and Transport Awards (SCATA) 2013.

It is Jebel Ali’s fifth SCATA award in seven years. Organised by ITP, the annual SCATA awards are a celebration of the Middle East logistics industry’s achievements over the past 12 months. They recognise outstanding regional and international companies, in 16 categories covering the logistics, sea freight and air cargo sectors.

In November: DP World was named the Best Performing Company in the UAE and awarded the prestigious Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award for Most Outstanding Performance for 2013.

DP World, UAE Region was one of the 16 recipients of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Business Award presented this year, in addition to the Outstanding Performance Award.

Also in November DP World won the award for Best Investor Relations Team for Corporate Governance – Middle East

The award was presented at the fifth Middle East Investor Relations Society (ME-IR Society) Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony held in Dubai and supported by Dubai Financial Market and Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. The Annual Conference and Awards ceremony is the Society’s flagship event and recognizes the efforts of those regional companies and IR professionals who play a critical role in developing IR.

In November DP World, UAE Region won the prestigious Container Terminal Operator Award for a fifth consecutive year at the Seatrade Middle East & Indian Subcontinent Awards 2013 in Dubai.

The judging panel chose the operator of Jebel Ali Port for its all-round operational excellence, a dynamic approach to creating a smart port, throughput performance, efficient automation systems and other value-adding services.

In December DP World won the coveted “Excellence in Financial Reporting” Award at the Middle East Accountancy & Finance Excellence Awards.

The Middle East Accountancy & Finance Excellence Awards are organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales (ICAEW) – a world leader in the accountancy and finance profession with over 140,000 members across the globe. The awards were launched in 2011 to celebrate the very best in the accountancy and finance profession in the Middle East.

Also in December DP World operated Mina Rashid in Dubai was voted the World’s Leading Cruise Port for the sixth consecutive year at the prestigious World Travel Awards 2013, acknowledged as the ultimate travel industry accolade.

Mina Rashid, which began life as the region’s first modern container port more than 40 years ago, competed and won against cruise ports from around the world, including Singapore, the Seychelles, Turkey, Mexico, Jamaica, Brazil, South Africa and the United States.

[mappress]

Press Release, January 7, 2014