DP World has reached an agreement in principle with Fujairah Ports Authority for a 50-year concession that will lead to the development of two new terminals on the east coast of the United Arab Emirates, facing the Gulf of Oman rather than the Strait of Hormuz. The deal, signed on 22 July 2026, will increase the group’s container handling capacity in the country from 19.4 million to almost 22 million TEU, a rise of about 13%, and will integrate the new facilities into the existing logistics network serving the port of Jebel Ali and the Jafza free zone on the opposite coast.
The project includes two separate facilities. Al Rugaylat will be a container and multipurpose terminal with capacity of up to 2.5 million TEU a year, 1.7 million tonnes of general cargo and 190,000 car equivalent units (CEU), while Dibba will be dedicated to general cargo, with additional capacity of 3.6 million tonnes a year. At this stage, it is an agreement in principle: final contractual formalisation will follow in the next phases, while construction is expected to take between 24 and 30 months from the start of works, according to DP World at the signing. The overall value of the deal has not been disclosed.
Fujairah is the only emirate in the United Arab Emirates with direct access to the Gulf of Oman rather than the Persian Gulf, a position that places the new facilities outside the Strait of Hormuz. The terminals will be connected by land to the group’s domestic network, which includes the port of Jebel Ali and the Jafza free zone on the west coast, and are designed to handle the latest generation of container ships, among the largest currently in service. The decision stems from the need to reduce reliance on the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that the conflict between Iran, the United States and Israel has made an increasingly unreliable route, with Tehran repeatedly threatening it or partially closing it. A company official described the move as defensive, designed to protect the UAE economy from future tensions with Iran. This initiative sits alongside other Emirati plans to build pipelines and expand additional ports, as part of a broader strategy to diversify infrastructure away from Hormuz.
