Hamdan bin Mohammed reviews operations at Jebel Ali Port

During the visit, His Highness was briefed on the port’s operational performance and multimodal logistics capabilities, particularly over the past two months, when DP World handled nearly 200,000 TEUs via regional overland truck and rail corridors, underscoring the resilience of the gateway’s wider network.

During the visit, His Highness praised the teams at Jebel Ali Port for their outstanding achievements and their consistent efforts to uphold high standards of operational excellence and ensure the seamless flow of trade through one of the world’s leading maritime logistics gateways.

“Dubai’s leading position in global trade has been shaped by long-term vision, advanced infrastructure and its ability to connect markets across continents. For nearly five decades, Jebel Ali Port has remained at the heart of a continuing success story, playing a vital role in linking regional and international supply chains and ensuring the uninterrupted flow of commerce under all conditions. We commend DP World’s role in advancing the UAE and Dubai’s vision for a strong and sustainable economic future that contributes to prosperity and wellbeing around the world,” he said.

“As trade networks continue to evolve, Dubai remains focused on expanding multimodal connectivity and investing in resilient infrastructure to enhance supply chain efficiency, support global commerce and strengthen the emirate’s standing as a leading international platform for trade and economic exchange,” he added.

Jebel Ali Port is the anchor of trade in the Middle East and plays a vital role in the UAE’s economic architecture. Beyond its role as a gateway, Jebel Ali serves as a strategic base for manufacturing, logistics, distribution and value-added services, supporting and connecting 12,000 companies with regional and global markets.

During the tour, His Highness visited three facilities, including the Jebel Ali Rail Terminal, which now operates up to eight daily services; the BOXBAY high-bay storage system; and the operations centre of Terminal 2, one of four terminals at the port. Together, they reflect DP World’s continued investment in infrastructure, automation and connectivity that support the UAE’s role in global trade.

His Highness was accompanied by Essa Kazim, Chairman of DP World; Yuvraj Narayan, Group CEO of DP World; Ahmad Yousef Al-Hassan, CEO & Managing Director of DP World GCC; and senior officials and project representatives, who briefed him on the port’s role in maintaining an uninterrupted flow of trade across the region.

Essa Kazim, Chairman of DP World, said: “Businesses and economies that thrive in today’s evolving environment are those built on diversified, resilient infrastructure. What DP World has built over nearly 50 years – the trade and industrial ecosystem around Jebel Ali Port, the customer relationships developed over generations, and the global network and expertise spanning six continents – has established it as the region’s most trusted trade gateway. That is built on decades of unmatched experience.”

His Highness was also briefed on the Jebel Ali Rail Terminal, which connects the port directly to the UAE’s national rail network and has an annual capacity of 800,000 TEUs, with plans to expand to 1.6 million TEUs annually to meet market demand. DP World is integrating rail into Jebel Ali’s wider multimodal logistics ecosystem, complementing maritime and road networks with up to eight daily train services.

He also visited the Terminal 2 control room and BOXBAY, the world's first deep-water automated high-bay container storage system, which expands effective port capacity without requiring additional footprint.

These developments are part of Dubai's wider investments in logistics, aligning infrastructure, automation and digital systems to reduce turnaround times, strengthen supply chain resilience and drive sustainable growth in trade volumes.

DP World operates across six continents, with a workforce of more than 125,000 people, over 300 freight forwarding offices worldwide, and a maritime fleet of more than 500 vessels.

Jebel Ali Port is the largest port in the Middle East and the anchor of the region’s most extensive free zone, Jafza, which is home to 12,000 companies across the manufacturing, logistics, retail, healthcare, automotive and food sectors.