OPM is run by former employees of ACT's previous long-term operator, Yeminvest, which withdrew in 2003, and has since been running the port on a temporary basis. OPM is offering to build an additional 350 metres of quay wall and to invest at least $100 million in ACT, with the assistance of unidentified regional strategic partners.

DPW presented four options for the ACT concession in November following the presidential elections but no decision has yet been taken by Sanaa. The company was awarded a 35-year contract to run the port in 2005 following an international bidding process. The deal was controversial because of the concession's length, the perception that its targets were unambitious and disagreement over whether the adjacent Aden Free Zone was included. However, the heart of objections has been the suspicion that DPW would not be fully committed to developing ACT as this would mean more competition to its home port of Jebel Ali. The Dubai-based operator's investment in other regional ports of Djibouti and Jeddah has also raised concerns.

Throughput at ACT and the neighbouring Ma'alla terminal reached about 397,000 20-foot equivalent units in 2006, the highest ever. This was also a more than three-fold increase since 2003, the year after the terrorist attack on the French tanker Limburg in the harbour.

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