DP World will team up with the initial LET partners Agility, Maersk and UPS, and will be called on by the Logistics Cluster, led by the United Nations’ World Food Programme to support immediate relief efforts in the aftermath of major natural disasters such as earthquakes, storms and floods.

The global trade enabler formalised its commitment by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the World Food Programme today at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

DP World will provide logistics services, for instance helping with the shipment and storage of humanitarian aid. In addition, selected employees in disaster prone countries will receive LET specialist training to improve their ability in coordinating response efforts.

All work will be directed by the Logistics Cluster, which provides coordination, information management and facilitates access to common logistics services to organisations responding to an emergency.

This public-private partnership brings together the resources of the logistics industry and the emergency experience of the humanitarian community, ensuring effective and efficient response and ultimately contributing to saving lives, alleviating suffering and protecting dignity.

As a global trade enabler working in 40 countries across six continents, DP World is well placed to provide its expertise and resources after major disasters. Its involvement in the Logistics Emergency Teams builds on its existing disaster response framework that details processes the company has in place to ensure the best collective impact, including how employees respond to catastrophes.

DP World’s previous contributions to disaster response efforts have included providing aid through fundraising and gifts after the 2013 Typhoon in the Philippines and the earthquake in Nepal in 2015.

Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Chairman and CEO of DP World, said: “Major natural disasters can have devastating impacts and the response efforts in the immediate aftermath are crucial to ensuring urgent aid reaches the right places as quickly as possible. We take our responsibility to society very seriously, and by joining the Logistics Emergency Teams we can play a key role as part of a coordinated response across the trade and logistics industry. This crucial collaboration helps protect lives and we are pleased to be a part of it.”
The Logistics Emergency Teams was established in 2015, facilitated by the World Economic Forum, to help improve international responses to humanitarian crisis. The collaboration has previously provided disaster relief during 12 emergency responses, including the earthquakes in Nepal in April and May 2015 and after the Japan earthquake and tsunami in 2011.

Stephen Cahill, Global Logistics Cluster Coordinator at the World Food Programme, said: “Through the Logistics Emergency Teams, the WFP-led Logistics Cluster has access to the largest global network of transportation and logistics expertise, meaning life-saving assistance can be provided more quickly and efficiently following natural disasters. The response during the first phase of any humanitarian crisis is highly important for how local communities are impacted in the long term, and the expertise and resources that DP World brings will help support vital strategic relief efforts. The partnership between the Logistics Emergency Teams and the Global Logistics Cluster integrates public and private sector skills and knowledge for maximum impact, and we are pleased to welcome DP World to this collaboration.”

The first phase covers the construction of a 350m long berth with a controlling depth of 15.5m, two trestles that will be connected to the existing yard, and dredging of the bay up to 14m deep. The new berth will be equipped with two super post-Panamax quay cranes, bringing OPC’s total number of quay cranes to six.

Scheduled for completion by mid-2018, the terminal expansion will position Puerto Cortes as the most competitive port in the Caribbean. The port, located north and along the Atlantic coast of Honduras, is the country’s center of transportation and commerce. Considered to be one of the most important ports in Central America, it handles 85 percent of shipment to Honduras, 10 percent to El Salvador and five percent to Nicaragua.

In 2013, ICTSI was awarded a 30-year concession for the design, financing, construction, maintenance, operation and exploration of the Specialized Container and Cargo Terminal in Honduras.