Sokhna Port

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The Sokhna Port Development Company (SPDC) operated the Port of North El Sokhna (Sokhna) under a 25-year concession agreement (extendable for another 25 years) awarded in mid-1999. The Port began commercial operations in October, 2002, and was the first fully private port operating in Egypt. It provided a deep water facility able to handle post-panamax vessels serving the Cairo area as well as the Suez Special Economic Zone (SSEZ), a 9,000 ha industrial development zone that was being developed adjacent to the Port. The Port benefited from a strategic location close to the southern entrance of the Suez Canal where it was to become a gateway for cargo between Egypt and Asia as well as East Africa. SPDC was initially a joint venture of Egyptian Container Handling Co. (ECHCO) (60%), Stevedoring Services of America Inc.(SSA) (25%), Suez Industrial Development Co. (10%) and other investors (5%). By 2004, SPDC’s ownership structure was as follows: ECHCO (70%); Captain Al Sharif (15%); Coral Holdings (10%); Mr. Al Tantawy (5%). Since ECHCO was a 50/50 joint venture between Orascom Construction Industries and Captain Al Sharif, the two parties owned, directly and indirectly, a combined 85% of SPDC. Coral Holdings Investment Ltd. was a UK based investment vehicle. The total investment on this first phase of the project amounted to US$200 million. This phase was designed such that the port was to be able to accommodate more than a half million containers and more than 8 million tons of goods annually. Sohkna is located 150 km south-east of Cairo and 40 km south of the Suez Canal on the Red Sea. It is connected to the main rail network via a spur off the Cairo to Suez line. In 2004, the IFC committed a US$20 million A loan to help finance the company’s 2001 – 2004 equipment and civil works investments. The project was to help complete the first two phases of the company’s operating plan for the container, bulk, general cargo, and fertilizer terminals at the Port and increase the container terminal’s capacity to 250,000 TEUs per year. The total project cost was estimated at US$97 million. In October 2007, DP World announced it was investing US$670 million to acquire a 90% share of Sokhna Port Development Company. The remaining 10% remained with Amiral Holdings Ltd. The acquisition was officialy signed in February 2008. None None