Bilkey, prominent DP World shipping executive, dies

Bilkey, prominent DP World shipping executive, dies    Edward “Ted” Bilkey, a board member and recently retired chief operating officer of Dubai Ports World, died in his sleep Friday, a spokeswoman for the company confirmed.
   Bilkey, 72,    was the face of DP World during the controversy that erupted in the United States over the company’s acquisition of five major container terminal leases, as well as passenger and cargo handling operations at nearly 20 ports on the East and Gulf coasts. He testified at several hearings on Capitol Hill in an unsuccessful effort to persuade Congress that the company did not pose a terrorist threat and should be allowed to proceed with the sale.
   Bilkey helped the government of Dubai build and operate and Port of Jebel Ali in the late 1980s until the mid-1990s when he served as executive director of the Dubai Ports Authority and Jebel Ali Free Zone.
   Bilkey previously was president of Norton Lilly & Co., a Mobile, Ala.-based shipping agency and served as vice president of Maher Terminals, the largest cargo terminal in the Port of New York-New Jersey.