Container Facility Operator Greets Head of State in Major Port Visit

DUBAI – For all the group’s developments around the globe the port of Jebel Ali remains the jewel in the crown for DP World, which this week saw a visit from the President of Indonesia, HE Joko Widodo, who was taken on a tour of the container handling facilities and Free Zone, classed by the Journal of Commerce as the most productive port in the world, and which supports and drives the growth of Dubai and a wider region home to some two billion people.

The President and his entourage consisting of Darmin Nasution, Coordinating Minister of Economics of Indonesia, Retno Lestari Priansari Marsud, Foreign Minister, Sofyan Djalil, National Development Planning Minister, Pramono Anung, Cabinet Secretary, Thomas Lembong, Minister of Trade and other Indonesian cabinet ministers and diplomats, were greeted by DP World Chairman HE Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem as the President undertook the trip as part of his official visit to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

The DP World boss pointed out that Dubai’s trade with Indonesia amounted to AED 3.92 billion in the first six months of 2015 and emphasised the importance of links between the two parties. DP World has managed PT Terminal Petikemas Surabaya (TPS) terminal since the group's acquisition of P&O in 2006. It is a joint venture with a 51% shareholding held by the state owned company Pelabuhan Pelindo III and 49% held by DP World. He continued:

“DP World is a longtime partner of the Indonesian government through the joint venture in PT. Terminal Petikemas Surabaya (TPS), the largest terminal in Surabaya Tanjung Perak, and the second largest in the country. We are committed to our operations there and look forward to cementing our relationship. With our global experience we work closely with our partners to support the development and economic growth of the countries and communities in which we operate. The President’s visit builds on already existing amicable relations and lasting partnerships that benefit both countries.”

TPS is located on the northern shore of eastern Java along the edge of Madura Strait and is the gateway to Eastern Indonesia, serving international and domestic trade for a wide-ranging hinterland. By virtue of its geographical location close to cargo catchment areas with good connectivity to by sea, rail and direct toll-way access, TPS is ideally located to act as an international and domestic transhipment point for all of North and East Indonesia. It is an origin and destination cargo container terminal with a 1.8 million TEU capacity and an annual throughput of 1.4 million TEUs.

The terminal itself employs around 580 permanent employees plus some 1,300 outsourced contractors, with training and development in place for staff supported by the DP World Institute, the global marine terminal operator’s specialist learning and training arm. Programmes include developing skills for trainers, safe working at height modules and support on how to develop training capability across the terminal. Work with terminal supervisors and a 10 month programme focusing on container terminal management already delivered across the company’s network is also on the cards.

TPS is an ISPS-compliant ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 certified operation and recently obtained ISO 28001 certification for supply chain security management, making it the first organisation and marine terminal in Indonesia to gain this accreditation. It was voted the best Container Terminal in 2008 by the International Ship Owners Association of Indonesia and won the Prima Utama award for service excellence from the Ministry of Transportation in 2014.

Photo: HE Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, DP World Chairman and President of Indonesia, HE Joko Widodo during his tour of Jebel Ali Port as part of his official visit to the UAE.