The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is studying the provision of a senior loan of up to $125 million in favour of Egypt-based joint venture Damietta Alliance Container Terminal. The loan is part of a financing package of $455 million expected to be co-financed by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungsgesellschaft (DEG), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and Proparco. Damietta Alliance Container Terminal is a special purpose vehicle established to develop a second container terminal in Damietta Port under a 30-year Build, Operate and Transfer Concession Agreement granted by the port landlord, Damietta Port Authority (DPA). The project will support the development of the superstructure and purchase of equipment for the second Container Terminal thereby significantly increasing Damietta Port's competitive position. According to the EBRD, the project promotes private sector participation in the infrastructure sector, which will help Damietta Port become a strategic transhipment hub in the East Mediterranean. It will also support human capital development within the Damietta region. This will be through broadening access to market relevant skills and training in the sector, and helping reduce the skills gaps in the region by developing a skills development strategy responding to emerging and future needs of the ports and logistics sector. German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd Damietta has a 39 percent stake in the joint venture, while Eurogate Damietta and Contship Damietta each own a 29.5 percent interest. Ship & CREW Egypt and the Middle East Logistics & Consultants Group each have a 1 percent stake as well. In January, Hapag-Lloyd announced the construction of a new transshipment terminal at Damietta, situated around 60 km from the northern outlet of the Suez Canal. The project is expected to complete in the second half of next year. The new terminal will have an annual handling capacity of 3.3 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). The new terminal is set to feature 50 modern rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGs) and 16 ship-to-shore cranes (STSs), with half of the RTGs to be powered by electricity.
