Gulftainer posts 10% volume surge at UAE terminals in 2009

Sharjah-based terminal and logistics company Gulftainer announced that throughputs at its UAE facilities – Khorfakkan Container Terminal (KCT) and Sharjah Container Terminal (SCT) – increased by nearly 10 per cent to 2,750,285 TEUs in 2009.

"This remarkable performance in a difficult year, when many container terminals throughout the world saw substantial downturns, undoubtedly reflects both the relative economic buoyancy of the region and the fact that KCT in particular has the reputation of being one of the world's fastest and most productive terminals," the firm said in a statement.

Gulftainer Group Director and General Manager, Peter Richards, said: "We always knew 2009 would not be an easy year and so it proved – but interestingly we were less impacted than many other terminal operators.

"Our strategy in 2009 was to continue to work harder at ensuring our shipping line customers had the best, fastest and most cost-effective performance we could provide, in a year when they needed us to help them save time and money."

Shipping lines therefore utilised KCT to make up time lost in other ports and to ensure their vessels could maintain sailing at economic speed, thus saving money," said Richards.

"We continued to expand the terminals – KCT received six new shore gantry cranes in 2009 – to ensure performance was maintained. Our customers have worked hard serving the wider Gulf and Indian Ocean region, which has seen less of a downturn than the rest of the world, as the throughputs indicate, and we will make sure we keep giving them the best platform to continue in 2010," he said.

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