DP World integrates its Unifeeder and Feedertech acquisitions

The move will help create a feeder and shortsea network on one platform in Europe, Middle East, India and Southeast Asia

DP World handled 16.7 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) across its global portfolio of container terminals in the second quarter of 2020. Bloomberg.

Global port operator DP World integrated two of its logistics acquisitions, Unifeeder and Feedertech, to create a single platform for feedering services in Europe, the Middle East, Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia.

The feedering and shortsea network will serve hundreds of ports around the world as DP World focuses on providing end-to-end supply chain solutions, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Feedering is a process of loading or unloading containers from large vessels using smaller boats called feeders, which takes place at a major port.

"Our smart logistics and feedering and short sea services, combined with our worldwide network of ports, terminals and storage facilities ... together with our increasing logistics capabilities on land ... mean that we can offer truly innovative solutions to our customers," Sultan bin Sulayem, chairman and chief executive of DP World, said.

Unifeeder and Feedertech both operate using an asset-light model.

"This flexibility has enabled DP World’s network to respond rapidly in enabling customers to keep trade flowing despite disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic," the company said.

The Unifeeder Group is now working on further expanding its reach to include additional trade routes and destinations, according to the statement.

One example is in the UK where new services connecting DP World London Gateway with smaller British regional ports will enable containers to travel closer to their final destination by sea, providing a more sustainable and efficient way of transporting cargo than by truck, the company said.

DP World closed the €660 million (Dh2.75 billion) acquisition of Danish port-related logistics company Unifeeder in 2018.

Unifeeder, which recently acquired Feedertech, operates feeder and short sea services around northern Europe and throughout the Mediterranean and Northern Africa regions.

Feedertech provides similar services connecting ports in Southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East.

The services have now been integrated onto one platform for a global "trade-oriented network", DP World said.

DP World’s Unifeeder and Feedertech platforms further boost the capabilities of its main ports in Dubai’s Jebel Ali, Jeddah Islamic Port and ports in India, Africa and Europe. This allows shippers and consignees worldwide to ship goods, through DP World’s major ports, to final destinations across the Middle East, South Asia, Europe and Africa using DP World’s integrated land and marine logistics network.