Aden Container Terminal Second Contract and Ma'alla Container Terminal

Cancelled

In July 2008, the government of Yemen awarded a 25-year concession contract to build rehabilitate and operate the Aden Container Terminal and the Ma'alla Container Terminal to a Special Purpose Company composed by DP World (50%) and the State Owned Company Yemen Gulf of Aden Ports Corporation (50%). The contract was awarded by direct negotiation. DP World was awarded the contract a first time in 2005 following a competitive bidding process, but at that time the parliament suspended it on the grounds that the Aden facility was in competition with Dubai's Jebel Ali port, also managed by DP World. Under the term of the contract?, the SPC was in charge of operating the Aden Container Terminal and the nearby Ma’alla Container Terminal for 25 years, with an optional extension by 10 years. The SPC committed to invest US$220 million in further developing the port, including building a new 400 meter berth extension to Aden Container Terminal within five years from handover. In November 2008, the capacity of the port was around 700,000 TEU and was expected to grow to around 1.5 million TEU by 2012. The SPC began operating the marine terminals on 6 November 2008. Following political developments in 2011 (fall of Saleh regime), global port operator DP World agreed with Yemeni port officials to sell its entire 50 percent stake in the Yemeni port venture, Dubai and Aden Ports Corporation (DAPDC), for $27 million to its joint venture partner, Yemen Gulf of Aden Ports Corporation. DP World had not the requirements in the contract to increase TEU throughput and expand docks. Certain terms of the original contract (100-year lease) were unclear, another reason for the government to negotiate the sale of the DP World stake.