Dubai-based Trustworthy.ae Group, last month broke ground on its first Inland Container Depot (ICD) and a third-party logistics (3PL) facility in the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), one of the largest industrial zones in the Middle East and a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Ports.

Hayleys Advantis Limited, the transportation and logistics arm of multinational conglomerate Hayleys Group, will manage and operate the two facilities. Advantis brings over two decades of experience in ICD and 3PL management, with it operating multiple facilities across the South Asian region, said a statement.

Trustworthy.ae Group’s ICD and 3PL facility, located in close proximity to the Khalifa Port, will be geared to serve the expected rise of container volumes in Kizad to 8.5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) from existing 1.5 million TEUs per annum over the next five years.

Mobilisation work on the facilities began last month and the ICD is set to become operational in June 2019. Spread over a built-up area of 40,000 sq m along with 25,000 sq m of open yard for storage area, the 3PL facility will be ready for business by the first quarter of 2020.

The ICD will offer washing, cleaning, repairs and certification for containers with an operational capacity of 1,500 to 1,800 trucks per day. Major and minor container repairs will be served by a state-of-the-art workshop within the facility. The 3PL operations will cater to cold, ambient and open yard storage.

Trustworthy.ae Group, which plans to invest Dh365 million ($100 million) in Kizad, will use state-of-the-art equipment in both the facilities that will help improve transit time and reduce costs for the trade.

The ICD will deploy advance intralogistics practices and equipment from the global industry leaders to handle, transfer and stack empty containers. The depot will also adopt most advanced mobile technology to increase efficiency and mobility of the workforce in order to ensure the highest level of services.

The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamsi, chief executive officer, Abu Dhabi Ports; Samir Chaturvedi, chief executive officer, Kizad; Abdul Lathif, managing director, Trustworthy.ae Group; Jalal Essudeen, executive director, Trustworthy.ae Group; Mohan Pandithage, chairman, Hayleys Group; Ruwan Waidyaratne, managing director, Hayleys Advantis Limited, along with many other VIP guests.

“Today’s groundbreaking ceremony marks an important milestone on our project. Trustworthy.ae Group’s investment in building the ICD and 3PL facility in Kizad demonstrates our continued commitment to the UAE,” said Abdul Lathif, managing director, Trustworthy.ae Group.

“We are proud to collaborate with Hayleys Advantis Limited on this exceptional project who are leaders in managing and providing world-class depot and logistics facilities. We are confident that Hayleys Advantis will set a new benchmark for quality and service in the Middle East region,” he added.

Hayleys Advantis is the first Sri Lankan-listed company to cross $1 billion in turnover in fiscal year 2017/18.

Chaturvedi said: “We are pleased to celebrate the ground-breaking of Trustworthy.ae Group’s first Inland Container Depot and third-party logistics facility – two major developments that will support the trade of goods to and from Abu Dhabi across a wide spectrum of industries. The investment of Sri Lanka’s leading logistics firm at our industrial zone is testament to Kizad’s established position as a global industrial and trading hub. The vast scale of these new facilities, along with the expansion of Khalifa Port and surrounding transport infrastructure, will support the growth of container volumes across the region over the coming years.”

Waidyaratne said: “We are indeed delighted to be partnering the Trustworthy.ae Group on this project and look forward to serving the Abu Dhabi clientele. This being our first project in the Middle Eastern region, we are intent on making a meaningful impact by utilizing the experience and expertise we have developed over the years, by operating in multiple countries in the Asian region.”