Gulftainer Company Limited

Peter Richards joined Gulftainer in March 1987 and during his 26 years he has helped steer the company from unknown local, private terminal operator onto an international platform with an annual through- put of over seven million TEUs, a staff over 4000 and a reputation for yielding the highest levels of productivity to benefit the company's clients.

Gulftainer's recent acquisition of a majority shareholding in Saudi Arabia's GSCCO means the company will now operate the Northern Container Terminal (NCT) on the west coast of Saudi Arabia, Jubail Commercial Port (JCP) and Jubail Industrial Port (JIP) on the east coast. Through this acquisition, Gulftainer not only operates the highest number of terminals in the Middle East, but is also the only terminal operator in the region which provides access for shipping lines into the entire Middle East through the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and Arabian Gulf.

Today the firm manages ports and logistics businesses in several countries, including the UAE, KSA, Iraq, Pakistan, Russia, Brazil, Lebanon and Turkey.

A New Era

When the Gulftainer company was first established in 1976, it was a modest and humbles business operating from their home in Sharjah, but little did they know that today, 37 years on, they would become one of the largest privately owned port operators in the world.

These recent years have been remarkable for Gulftainer with the addition of new facilities in Iraq, Brazil, Russia and Lebanon; however, with the latest purchase of Gulf Stevedoring Contracting Company (GSCCO), based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the company portfolio has been elevated to new heights, to become the largest port operator in the Middle East.

In addition to its port facilities, Gulftainer operates freight and transport services at inland container depots (ICD) and logistics cities, through its third-party logistics (3PL) subsidiary, Momentum Logistics, along with joint venture interests across international territories, including Pakistan and Turkey. Momentum is now seeing continual organic growth in its own right. However, it is those humble origins that have allowed Gulftainer to grow in the manner it has; developing an industry wide reputation for the delivery of guaranteed levels of productivity and the assemble of a strong customer-focused team with well-rounded industry experience.

This is an exciting journey for Gulftainer, which is looking forward to strengthening its presence in Saudi Arabia in the coming years. The company truly believes that the quality and capabilities they are bringing to the management and operation of the local ports in the Kingdom will be invaluable to the growth of the nation.

Twenty five years ago Gulftainer operated just 4 ships to shore gantry cranes and by the end of 2013 will have the potential to operate over 75. Twenty five years ago Gulftainer employed a staff of 125; by the end of 2013 Gulftainer will manage 40% of all Middle East ports.

A true success story born out of Sharjah.