Gulftainer to take over Delaware’s Port of Wilmington?

The board of the Diamond State Port Corp., which oversees the Port of Wilmington, is scheduled to consider Gulftainer’s proposal April 6, John Haroldson, director of marketing and trade development at the port told American Shipper.    Gulftainer, the United Arab Emirates-based port management and third-party logistics company that expanded into the United States in 2015 by taking over a container terminal in Port Canaveral, Fla., is on the verge of making a deal to operate in the Port of Wilmington, Del.
   The company briefed Delaware officials last week on its proposal to take over operations at the Port of Wilmington and to build a new container handling facility on the Delaware River, while also investing in the port’s existing terminals on the Christina River, according to local news outlet The News Journal.
   John Haroldson, director of marketing and trade development at the port, confirmed with American Shipper the state is in discussions with Gulftainer, but said it was premature to go into details about Gulftainer’s proposal, noting that the board of the Diamond State Port Corp., which oversees the Port of Wilmington, is scheduled to consider it on April 6.
   “The concept, subject to wrapping this all up, is that there would be a long term-concession agreement. They would operate the port and make significant investments, but the state would still own the port,” he said.
   The agreement would involve operating the port’s existing footprint as well as new areas.
   Delaware’s Secretary of State Jeffrey Bullock, who also serves as chairman of the Diamond State Port Corp., confirmed the prospective partnership with Gulftainer, saying how Gulftainer’s “proposal was the best, and they have been selected to negotiate final terms,” The News Journal reported.
   Gulftainer officials were not available for immediate comment.
   In 2016, a strategic report prepared for the state on the Port of Wilmington, said it was in need of $181.5 million in investment over the next five to 10 years to bring it into good repair and meet current requirements. State officials said at that time they would look to private investors to help fund improvements.
   Later that year, the Port of Wilmington announced it was spending $10 million to acquire a 113-acre site in Edgemoor, Del. from chemical company Chemours, at a location about three miles north of the existing 380-acre port, which is located at the confluence of the Delaware and Christina rivers.
   Gulftainer also approached the Port of Oakland about operating there in 2016, but Mike Zampa, a spokesman for the port, said “we weren’t able to meet their needs.”
   Center for Security Policy, a conservative think tank that has been highly critical of the decision to let Gulftainer invest in Port Canaveral, has issued a long report, titled “Gulftainer Taking Second U.S. Port,” raising alarm over Gulftainer operating U.S. ports.
   It’s not clear how much sway the Center for Security Policy has on the Trump Administration, and whether it could influence Gulftainer’s plan to invest in Wilmington. The center’s president, Frank Gaffney Jr., has praised Trump’s appointment of John Bolton as National Security Advisor and Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State. Bolton has also spoken at events organized by the center.
   Back in 2006, Dubai-based port terminal operator DP World divested itself of port assets in the U.S. it had planned to acquire as part of its purchase of P&O Ports after members of Congress expressed concern about the potential negative impact ownership by a company from the U.A.E would have on port security.