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Further stepping up its efforts to become a regional ports player across multiple market segments, AD Ports Group is entering into partnership with development firms, Diyar Al Muharraq and Eagle Hills Diyar, to investigate opportunities to develop and operate new cruise infrastructure in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Initially the three companies will collaborate in a series of feasibility studies aimed at identifying potential areas of investment, as well as the development of new infrastructure and services.
In addition to locating a viable site for a proposed cruise terminal designed to “substantially enhance” Bahrain’s existing cruise offering, AD Ports Group has also been given the responsibility for overseeing the new facility’s day-to-day operations upon completion.
As one of the region’s increasingly popular cruise destinations, Bahrain has witnessed a sharp increase in annual arrivals in recent years, achieving a record high of 130,778 passengers in 2019.The development of a new cruise terminal in the country will not only increase its capacity to receive more passengers each year, but also strengthen the region’s cruise offering, AD Ports believes.
In another potentially significant initiative aimed at broadening the geographic scope of its activities, AD Ports has signed an agreement with Turkey’s Turkiye Varlik Fonu to collaborate on major investment opportunities for port development and operations, and to coordinate efforts to examine other logistics-related investment projects within Turkey. Under the terms of the agreement, the two organisations will explore and examine a range of opportunities, establishing a joint steering committee for this purpose.
AD Ports Group recently announced its financial results for the nine months ending September 30th, 2021, reporting revenue growth of 22% year-on-year, up to AED 2.791 billion (US$ 760 million) compared with AED 2.295 billion (US$ 625 million) in the same period last year, as a result of volume growth, business diversification and new partnerships. Profitability on an EBITDA basis rose 7% year-on-year to AED 1.161 billion (US$ 316 million) during this period, up from AED 1.081 billion (US$ 295 million) during the same nine months of 2020.
General cargo volumes rose to 37 million metric tonnes, up from 22 million metric tonnes in the equivalent period in 2020, while container throughput grew to 2.47 million TEU in the first nine months of 2021, up from 2.42 million TEU in 2020, despite the ongoing supply constraints faced in the global shipping and container market.
