CONCLUSION

The maritime sector is facing a volatile and disruptive period, with a return to the pre-COVID ‘normal’ of supply and demand unlikely in the near- or medium-term. The new normal seems to be characterised by changing priorities, unpredictable pricing, and global shocks, including conflict and recession.

In this context, connectivity seems likely to fall rather than increase, with a range of factors – priority routes, freight rates, environmental legislation, and innovation adoption – all working to exaggerate the divide between the largest ports and their frontier peers.

Addressing these issues requires the emergence of a new breed of maritime services company, with the resources to invest in new fleet and technology and an agile enough business model to respond to demand beyond the main shipping routes.

AD Ports Group is one of the companies working to fill the supply gap and boost connectivity, leveraging its strategic position in the heart of the Middle East to connect East-West and North-South. The company’s SAFEEN Group is the largest and most advanced provider of diversified maritime services in the region, while its feeder business, SAFEEN Feeders, provides container services that support mainliner shipping companies and clients in the UAE, Saudi Arabia,

Oman, Bahrain, Iraq, Sudan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, China and Singapore. In September 2022, AD Ports Group completed the acquisition of a 70 percent equity stake in Transmar, a regional container shipping company that operates across the Middle East, Red Sea, Arabian Gulf and Eastern Coast of Africa in November the group announced an agreement to secure an 80 percent equity stake in Global Feeder Shipping, which has one of the largest fleets of container ships in the world. As a result, AD Ports Group is now a major provider across a broad territory, with an owned fleet of 35 vessels, and a total container capacity of 100,000 TEUs.

“AD Ports Group is in a position to address a wide range of unmet needs in the current market,” said one UAE-based executive interviewed for this report. “They are deploying the resources and the model necessary to ensure connectivity across their global footprint.”

Resolving the global connectivity imbalance will likely require broader international consensus to enable the development of resilient and sustainable maritime transport supply chains. However, the emergence of regional pioneers in the provision of shipping services will likely deliver important benefits in the interim period.