Industry News - Piracy Threat Will Not Halt Djibouti Box Development View Related Content

Djibouti - Shipping - 15 Mar 2012 - DP World Djibouti's Doraleh Container Terminal is s eeking to expand its capacity . Since its launch in 2009, the facility has managed to develop into a trans hipment hub for the region, des pite its proximity to pirate infes ted waters , and is s eeking to play an even greater role in the global container s hipping s ector. The Doraleh Container Terminal, which is partly owned by global port operator DP World, is s et to invite bids for the US$300mn project, which will boos t its box throughput from 1.5mn twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs ) to 3mn TEU by 2015. The port authority's CEO Aboubaker Omar Hadi has s tated that talks are underway with China, the World Bank and the African Development Bank for the funding of the project.

Ideally Located For Transhipment, But Pirate Threat Remains

Map of The Gulf of Aden

Source: BMI
BMI highlights that s ince the facility's inception, the plan to expand Doraleh Container Terminal's capacity to 3mn TEUs has been in place, which would require the extens ion of the facility's quay to 2,000 metres (m). Unders tandably, the facility - which only opened in 2009 - had to make its mark in the global s hipping s ector to warrant further inves tment, and it has managed, des pite the increas e in piracy in the area, to develop into a trans hipment hub. With a draught of 18m, allowing it to cater for Super-Pos t-Panamax ves s els (the larges t s hips afloat, with a capacity of 10,000-15,000TEUs ), as well as its proximity to the Suez Canal and the major box trade route of As ia-Europe, the Doraleh Container Terminal was an obvious regional contender for trans hipment hub s tatus . A major coup in its development as a trans hipment hub

was wooing the Singapore-bas ed container carrier Pacific International Lines (PIL) away from its previous trans hipment hub and rival of Doraleh Container Terminal, the Port of Aden. BMI highlights that the port has managed to develop its role des pite an increas e in pirate activity originating in Somalia. While Djibouti is home to a US military bas e and is us ed by foreign navies patrolling the pirate infes ted waters (enabling s ome protection for Djibouti's domes tic waters ), the problem of piracy has s pread further from the Gulf of Aden into the Indian Ocean and even up into the Straits of Hormuz, thereby impacting international s hipping. We hold the view that while the increas ed us e of armed guards on ves s els (no ves s el with armed guards onboard has yet been hijacked) will offer s ome res pite from the s ucces s of pirate attacks , the is s ue mus t be dealt with on land in Somalia for the threat of piracy to be truly addres s ed. Des pite this threat on its doors tep, Djibouti is determined to develop its maritime s ector. On top of inves tment in the Doraleh Container Terminal, the country plans to build five new ports . One in Tajourah is being planned to handle mineral and potas h exports from landlocked Ethiopia and another in Ghoubet will be us ed for s alt exports . This material is protected by international copyright laws , and us e of this is s ubject to our Terms & Conditions . 2012 Bus ines s Monitor International Ltd