AD Ports Group, the operator of industrial cities and free zones in Abu Dhabi, has signed an agreement with authorities of the Black Sea's biggest port that will help it to boost its strategy in the Middle Corridor trade route.
AD Ports is teaming up with the National Company Maritime Ports Administration, which oversees the Port of Constanta in Romania, allowing it to also tap into Eastern and Central Europe, it said in a statement on Tuesday.
The deal includes port development and the use of digital and sustainable solutions, AD Ports said, without disclosing investment figures.
The Port of Constanta, also one of Europe's biggest, handled about 88 million tonnes of cargo and an estimated 1 million 20-foot equivalent unit containers in 2025, according to official data.
It is located at the eastern edge of Europe, at the mouth of the Danube–Black Sea Canal, and provides a link between the Black Sea shipping routes and inland waterways flowing through Eastern and Central Europe.
The Middle Corridor, meanwhile, links Asia and Europe through the Caspian Sea and South Caucasus, and freight passing through spiked to 4.5 million tonnes in 2024, from 840,000 tonnes in 2021, according to data cited by the German Marshall Fund of the US.
"We look forward to exploring opportunities that further strengthen the group’s presence along the Middle Corridor, while supporting our Romanian partners in unlocking sustainable economic growth through enhanced connectivity and trade," said Mohamed Al Shamisi, managing director and group chief executive of AD Ports Group.
AD Ports Group has been pushing to grow its international footprint amid rising opportunities in global trade and logistics.
Its latest expansion comes after four years of investments across Central Asia and Pakistan to help reactivate the Middle Corridor, which it calls a commercially viable and lower-impact trade route.
In 2025, AD Ports launched the Gulf Link logistics joint venture with Kazakhstan's KTZ Express, opened a logistics hub in Tbilisi and partnered with Semurg Invest to develop a grain terminal at Kazakhstan’s Kuryk Port on the Caspian Sea.
Earlier this year, it joined Africa Ports Development’s 30-year concession to design, build and operate a dry bulk terminal at the Port of Douala in Cameroon, and also signed a 30-year concession agreement to manage and operate Jordan's Aqaba multipurpose port.
In the latter part of 2025, it launched an offer to buy a controlling stake in one of the largest container terminal operators in Egypt. It also and signed a deal with China’s SPG Yantai Port to develop green automotive business parks and promote vehicle trade between Asia, the Middle East and North Africa.
AD Ports reported a 19 per cent annual jump in its full-year 2025 net income as strong growth across business segments pushed revenue to record levels.
