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Adani Vizhinjam Port( AVPPL) in southern India. MSC is also reportedly in discussions with China Merchants Port Holdings( CMPort) and Sri Lankan authorities to acquire a large stake in Hambantota International Port, located southeast of Colombo.
Strategic location
At the center of Gulftainer’ s master plan is the expansion of Khorfakkan Commercial Terminal; Gulftainer holds the operating concession at the terminal, which is owned by the Sharjah Port Authority.
The terminal is located south of the Strait of Hormuz and has played a key role in enabling containers to be offloaded and trucked to other countries in the region during the Middle East war. The terminal will initially expand from its current handling capacity of 3.5 million TEUs to 5 million TEUs, with the long-term goal of increasing capacity to 10 million TEUs.
Other developments in the master plan include the addition of 2.3 million TEUs of combined inland logistics capacity at the Al Dhaid Logistics Park and Sajaa Logistics Park in Sharjah, as well as the construction of 1.5 million square meters of warehousing space in a Phase 1 development at Al Dhaid.
Gulftainer said its plan is to create one of the Middle East’ s largest integrated logistics ecosystems, connecting within a single platform warehousing, bonded and nonbonded storage, cold chain, contract logistics, container freight stations, distribution centers, e-commerce fulfilment, cross-docking, value-added logistics, light industrial activities and multimodal transport solutions.
Underpinning the business expansion will be an AI-powered digital platform providing customers with greater visibility, efficiency and control across what Gulftainer said are increasingly complex supply chains.
“ Customers are no longer looking for isolated logistics services.”
Along with its master plan, Gulftainer said it is restructuring the company into four integrated platforms: GT Ports for operating container terminals and maritime gateways; GT Logistics for handling inland logistics, multimodal transport and supply chain solutions; GT Parks for dealing with logistics parks, warehousing and industrial ecosystems; and GT Maritime, which will handle regional shipping services that connect cargo with trade corridors.
email: greg. knowler @ spglobal. com
Gulftainer’ s plans center on expanding Khorfakkan( pictured) from 3.5 million TEUs to 10 million TEUs. Shutterstock. com www. joc. com August 3, 2026 | Journal of Commerce 19