AD Ports Group has achieved a significant milestone by entering the global top 20 port operators, securing 19th place in Drewry’s latest survey, a UK-based maritime research firm. This position underscores the group’s rapid growth and increasing industry influence, driven by strategic acquisitions and new operational concessions.
Featured in Drewry’s 2024-2025 annual industry report, the ranking reflects container throughput, with AD Ports Group reporting a 13 per cent increase year-on-year to 4.91 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2023.
The group’s ascent follows the acquisition of Noatum, a Spanish logistics and port services company with 16 terminals across Spain. Additionally, a 50-year concession to manage four berths at Karachi Port in Pakistan expanded AD Ports Group’s global terminal capacity by 14 per cent to 9.7 million TEUs. Volumes at UAE terminals also rose by 6 per cent to 4.6 million TEUs.
Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, MD and Group CEO, remarked that this inclusion in Drewry’s Top 20 confirms the group’s growing international significance. He emphasised their commitment to maintaining a leading industry role while pursuing expansion in trade, maritime, logistics, and industrial development.
The Ports Cluster continued strong growth into 2024, with Q2 revenue increasing 83 per cent year-on-year to AED 563M. The group’s expansion strategy focuses on developing multipurpose terminals in the Indian subcontinent, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, South Asia, and Africa. Recent agreements include new terminal concessions in Egypt, Republic of Congo, and Angola. The acquisition of a 95 per cent stake in Tanzania International Container Terminal Services (TICTS) is expected to boost terminal capacity by over 60 per cent to 14.5 million TEUs in five years.
