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Dubai Ports

Foreign companies operate most of the shipping terminals at American ports. The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company of Britain owned terminals in Baltimore, Miami, Newark, New Orleans, New York City and Philadelphia. Dubai Ports World was formed in September 2005 when the Dubai Ports Authority joined with DPI Terminals. In October 2005, a part of Dubai Ports World offered to buy P and O. In January 2006, DPI bought CSX World Terminals, the international port business of the CSX Corporation in the United States. Treasury Secretary John Snow headed CSX before he joined the Bush Administration in 2003. On 13 February 2006, P and O shareholders voted to accept an increased offer. Dubai Ports World noted that the deal covers thirty terminals in eighteen countries, and the American operations represent a small part.

Critics said the United Arab Emirates had a mixed record in fighting terrorism. The Bush administration called the UAE an important ally. The website www.portsforus.org claimed Dubai Ports World and the "Emir" of Dubai [the emirates are run by Sheiks, not Emirs] continue to execute control over U.S. ports from which it had agreed to divest itself. The website includes a "clock" that gives the number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds that the "Emir of Dubai has owned operations in 22 U.S. ports" and further states that there is nothing that requires the "Emir" to sell the ports unless Congress takes action. The website also included a picture of Dubai Crown Prince and UAE Vice President and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid (MbR), along with the caption, "You're being duped, America. Say hello to the owner and operation of our ports, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum."

The result was annulling a legal contract consistent with the rules of globalization and its practices under which a UAE establishment, Dubai Ports World, would manage a number of American ports. The excuse was uglier than the guilt itself, expressed openly and without any other justification than that this institution belonged to an Arab Muslim country posing a threat to the security of the United States of America. UAE public opinion was being shaped negatively by the strong U.S. public opposition to DP World's investment in U.S. port operations. UAE remains fully committed economically and politically to close ties with the US, despite the Dubai Ports World (DPW) episode.

The way Dubai was dealt with can only be described as stark hatred. This emirate was dealt with oppression and prejudice. Those who observed the American media during this period could not help but be shocked by the strong negative feelings expressed by US politicians and media officials. Dubai was expecting to be praised for embracing globalization and for opening its borders to those who endure hard living conditions in their countries to come to our land of gold. Instead of all of this, Dubai is regarded as the origin of two 9/11 hijackers.

According to the UAE government, 15 commercial ports (including oil terminals), as of December 2005, served the country, with a total capacity of more than 70 million tons. Located in the city of Dubai, Mina Rashid, completed in 1972, is the leading port of the Gulf region. It has modern facilities to handle almost all types of commercial and passenger shipping, including roll-on-roll-off containers. Also located in Dubai, Mina Jabal Ali, completed in 1979, is the largest port in the country and the largest man-made harbor in the world. It deals primarily in bulk cargo and industrial material for the Mina Jabal Ali Free Zone, an international investment haven. In 2004 the two ports had a combined annual traffic of more than 77 million tons of cargo, nearly 65 million twenty-foot-equivalent-units of containers, and 14,000 vessels. The two ports, collectively, ranked tenth in the world in terms of total container throughput in 2004.

In August 2005, the Dubai Ports Authority began the first stage of a multi-year, US$1.4 billion expansion project at Mina Jabal Ali that would increase storage-handling capacity to 2.5 million twenty-foot-equivalent units by 2007, and 5 million twenty-foot-equivalent units by 2008. In September 2005, the Dubai Ports Authority merged with Dubai Ports International Terminals to create a single global port operator-Dubai Ports World, owned by the Dubai government. A new regulatory body, the Dubai Ports and Jabal Ali Free Zone Authority, was created to oversee the regulation and administration of Dubai's port operations.

In December 2004, the Dubai Ports Authority (DPA), which operates the main container ports of Mina Jabal Ali and Mina Rashid, became the first Middle Eastern port to participate in the U.S. Homeland Security Container Security Initiative (CSI) program, which is aimed at preventing materials that could be used by terrorist groups from entering the United States in shipping containers. Under the CSI, DPA employees will screen suspicious United States-bound containerized cargo transiting Dubai's ports.

As of December 2005, the UAE has 35 airports, 22 of which have paved runways, as well as two heliports. Of the 35 airports, six are international. Dubai International Airport, which now supports 105 airlines, is undergoing a US$4.1 billion expansion. The Abu Dhabi International Airport, which supports 50 airlines, is undergoing a multi-year, US$500 million expansion project; completion is expected by 2006. Al Ayn International Airport, built in 1994, supports 10 airlines, and plans have been made to spend US$20.5 million to expand its facilities. Sharjah International Airport, the first airport to be built in the UAE, launched the low-cost Air Arabia Airlines in 2003 to serve destinations in the Middle East and Asia. The airport handles 1.3 million passengers per year. There are currently plans to spend US$61 million over the next two years to expand this airport's facilities.