The Project will be developed by Damietta Alliance Container Terminal S.A.E. (the “Company”), a special purpose vehicle incorporated in Egypt, owned (39%) by Hapag-Lloyd AG (“HLAG”), (29.5%) by Eurogate International GmbH (“Eurogate”), and (29.5%) by Contship Italia S.p.A. (“Contship”, together the “Sponsors”), and 1% by Middle East Logistics & Consultant Group S.A.E and Ship & C.R.E.W. S.A.E each.

HLAG is one of the largest ship liners and operates the fifth-largest fleet of container ships worldwide. By the end of 2022, HLAG had c. 14,200 employees in more than 400 offices in 135 countries, and its vessels carried 11.8 MTEU, on par with 2021. HLAG is also a founding member of THEA, one of the biggest shipping alliances worldwide, which includes HLAG, Yang Ming, Ocean Network Express, and Hyundai Merchant Marine.

Eurogate is a top 15 independent operator of container terminals in Europe with twelve terminals located in Germany, Russia, Italy, Portugal, Cyprus, and Morocco and a total capacity of 16.9 MTEU and 69 container gantries, including Germany’s only deep-water container terminal. Eurogate has a longstanding relationship with HLAG through its operations in the German ports of Hamburg, Bremerhaven, and Wilhelmshaven, the three largest ports in Germany, and it also operates HLAG’s West-Med transshipment volumes at the TangerMED port in Morocco.

Contship is a subsidiary of Eurokai, one of the shareholders of Eurogate, and is currently controlled by Eurokai (66.6%) and Eurogate (33.4%). Contship operates (directly and indirectly) four port terminals with 23 STS cranes and 12 mobile cranes, one rail hub, and transport companies. On a standalone basis in the Italian market, the group handled a total of 1.5 MTEU containers with a market share of 16% in 2021.

 The total Project cost is estimated at c. US$665 million, financed with c. 70% by debt and 30% by equity. The debt is to be funded with senior loans from IFC, EBRD, DEG, AIIB, and Proparco.  The proposed IFC investments include (i) A Loan for up to US$125 million and (ii) Risk Management Products in the form of interest rate swaps with a loan equivalent exposure of c. US$10 million.

 The Project will be located in Damietta Port on the Mediterranean Sea in Egypt at around 70km from Port Said at the northern end of Suez Canal and 200km from the Greater Cairo Area.

  This is a Category B project according to IFC's Policy on Environment and Social Sustainability (2012) given that the proposed investment is expected to have limited adverse E&S impacts that are few, site specific, largely reversible, and readily addressed through existing mitigation measures.

Key E&S aspects related to the project include (i) the company’s E&S Management System (“ESMS”) and organization to manage E&S risks and impacts from construction and operation in line with IFC PSs; (ii) assurance of fair, safe and healthy working conditions for direct employees and contracted workers, particularly on Occupational Health and Safety (“OHS”), and gender considerations; (iii) managing impacts of excavation and dredging activities on the marine and benthic ecosystem; (iv) management and monitoring of air emissions, waste and wastewater, and hazardous materials in line with World Bank Group (“WBG”) General EHS Guidelines; (v) community impacts due to increased traffic; and (vi) community engagement activities and access to a grievance mechanism.