Appointed the new CEO of Gulftainer in July 2020, Charles Menkhorst has been tasked with growing one of the largest privately owned, independent, port operators in the industry.
No small task but Menkhorst has a clear path forward already set our which he explained to the Port Technology International in a recent, exclusive, interview.
“First, I see Gulftainer as a port development and port management company,” he explained, “We are a captive gateway to the immediate hinterland and have established ourselves in strategic locations. We are making
sure we establish ourselves in strategic locations in ports that have great access to the immediate hinterland and access that can be from the water, by rail and by road.”
Gulftainer manages numerous port terminals from its home base in the UAE as well as internationally across Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the US.
Going forward the company plans to put a lot of emphasis on its connection with gateway ports that serve a strong captive hinterland.
Another area of growth will be to move up more within the supply chain, Menkhorst explained.
“Our ambition is not only to be a port operator and a port manager but really taking our clients by the hand and providing them with a seamless supply chain and maritime supply chain solutions. I always like to mention the word maritime supply chain solution because to us it means a solution that involves one of our ports.”
He added however, one thing the company is not perusing is the idea of opening warehousing in areas where it does not have any port activity.
Menkhorst said that the idea of a seamless supply chain solution had already been explored domestically by the company in the UAE with Gulftainer’s collaboration with its subsidiary Momentum Logistics which offers a suite of supply chain management solution including transportation, freight forwarding, warehousing, logistics cities and container services.
The idea is now to roll this concept out internationally and to develop supply chain forwarding capabilities that are closely linked to our port infrastructure, according to Menkhorst.
Download the paper to read the full interview.
