Ireland’s Dublin Port Company has signed an 18-month business contract with the Indonesian Government to manage and develop the free port of Sabang in Nangroe Aceh Darussalam.

The deal, according to the Jakarta Post, was signed on November 13 and allows Dublin Port, through its partner HD Asia Maritime, to participate in Sabang’s development and replace the current state-owned port operator PT Pelabuhan Indonesia.  

The latest deal follows a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in 2006 to jointly develop the port but which, to date, has been marked by the lack of any discernible activity.  

The agreement will see to the world's twelfth largest port operator handling all the port's operations and improve facilities, including the container yard, storage facilities, warehouses, and cargo terminals.

"We will provide top-class security services for the port's customers and carry out marketing promotions to bring more ships to Sabang," said Bernardus R Djonoputro, the CEO of consulting company HD Asia Advisory, HD Asia Maritime's parent company, during a media conference.

The port aims to attract cargo and cruise ships from Europe and the Middle East on their way to such eastern Asia destinations as China, Japan and South Korea and may conceivably pose a threat to regional port powerhouse, the Port of Singapore Authority.

Jaya Prakash