Report: Port of Wilmington Secures New Operator

Located at the confluence of the Delaware and Christina rivers, 65 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, the Port of Wilmington, Del., is owned by the Diamond State Port Corporation, a corporate entity of the state of Delaware. (Diamond State Port Corporation Photograph)

Wellesley, Mass.-based Enstructure will take over Port of Wilmington, Del., operations from Gulftainer, according to a Delaware Public Media report.

Port owner Diamond State Port Corporation (DSPC) selected Enstructure earlier this month citing “the failure of the previous operator, the Emirati-owned logistics company Gulftainer, to secure long-term financing for a long-promised shipping terminal at the site of a former DuPont chemical production facility at Edgemoor,” the media outlet reported June 2.

The Norfolk Southern– and CSX-served port has been run by Gulftainer since 2018, under a 50-year lease that cost at least $3 million per year, Delaware Public Media said. Located at the confluence of the Delaware and Christina rivers (65 miles from the Atlantic Ocean), it is a full-service deepwater port and marine terminal handling about 400 vessels annually, with an annual import/export cargo tonnage of more than 6 million tons, according to DSPC, a corporate entity of the state of Delaware.

Enstructure—one of three concession bidders, Delaware Public Media said—is a privately held terminals and logistics infrastructure company that owns and operates a network of marine terminals, rail terminals, warehouses and truck fleets across the eastern United States. In June 2021, it entered a definitive agreement to acquire the port division of Patriot, which operates more than 30 regional and short line railroads, a scenic excursion train, and two rail-related services companies with 1,200-plus rail miles across the United States.

According to Delaware Public Media, Enstructure will honor the International Longeshoreman’s Association’s “memorandum of understanding” regarding port labor. Changes to the existing port lease and its annual cost were not specified.

Enstructure also “signed a project labor agreement with the Delaware Building and Construction Trades Council to provide workers for the Edgemoor project, though the development still requires additional input from the US Army Corps of Engineers—namely concerning the dredging necessary to create a new channel for cargo vessels,” according to Delaware Public Media.

“Enstructure is also looking forward to collaborating with [the Diamond State Port Corporation] on the Edgemoor project, which will expand Wilmington’s presence on the East Coast as a vital port city and deliver significant economic benefits to the State,” Enstructure spokesman Justin May told the media outlet.