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DP World’s Contract with Saint John

DP World has signed a lease to operate the Port of Saint John’s container terminal starting in January; the contract gives them control of the terminal for the next 30 years.  This port is Canada’s fifth largest container port, and it is the second largest on the East Coast. In 2015, the port handled 97,465 20-foot containers, which was 7,850 more containers than the previous year. After signing this contract, DP World now operates four shipping terminals in Canada; however, they currently do not operate in any terminals in the U.S. As of right now, DP World does not plan on operating in the U.S, but stated, “We are not opposed to the U.S., but the right opportunity hasn’t presented itself yet.”

DP World currently operates the following terminals: Centerm terminal at Port of Vancouver, Fairview terminal at the Port of Prince Rupert, and Duke Point terminal on Vancouver Island’s East coast. The Saint John container terminal will serve as a home base for their eastern operations, as it connects to three major railroads, and is about nine hours away from both New York and Montreal by road. The U.S. shippers might consider moving their freight through Saint John to avoid congestions at the Port of New York and New Jersey, which are the largest U.S. East coast ports.

Expansion seems to be the key for all three terminals (Saint John, Montreal, and Halifax) if they want to stay competitive. Montreal Viau is expanding and improving the road connectivity; they are expected to have capacity for 350,000 TEU’s by the end of the year. In the meantime, Halifax has one of the deepest harbors in the world at 18 meters low tide, they are able to handle the largest container ships; and are now considering extending its berth to handle two mega ships simultaneously. Saint John is not staying behind, the port will be deepening its harbor and the main channel from 8.4 meters to 10 meters; they also plan on deepening their berth from 12.2 meters to 15.2 meters. By expanding its berth, Saint John will be able to increase the stacking from 10 hectares to 35 hectares. In addition to the deepening, they also have plans to expand the on-dock rail capacity to allow loading of a 12,000- foot train at one time, and will update their gate system to an automated electronic processing.

 

Allyn Contributor: Jessica Montoya

 

References:

David George-Cosh - http://www.wsj.com/articles/dp-world-strikes-deal-to-operate-canada-east-coast-port-1469738608

Szakonyi, M. (2016, September 22). DP World aims to make Canada’s Saint John gateway for US imports. Retrieved September 27, 2016, from http://www.joc.com/port-news/international-ports/port-saint-john/dp-world-aims-make-canada-saint-john-gateway-us-imports_20160922.html 

 

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